May 28 (Reuters) – Kohl’s stuck to its annual targets after posting quarterly sales in line with estimates, as the department store chain’s efforts to cut costs and expand its product categories start to pay off.
The company’s shares were up about 10% in premarket trading, after the stock briefly doubled in value last year following a meme-stock-like rally.
Michael Bender, named permanent CEO in November to lead a turnaround after years of sliding sales and shrinking profit, has focused on introducing fresher items like fruits and vegetables in its cheaper store labels to keep its lower and middle-income customers engaged.
Simultaneously, Kohl’s has been reviving categories like jewelry and accessories and expanding its Sephora partnership to win back loyal shoppers and attract younger customers.
The company said it continues to expect annual net sales to remain flat or decline up to 2%. It also sees annual earnings per share in the range of $1.00 to $1.60.
The company posted first-quarter net sales of $3 billion, in line with estimates, according to data compiled by LSEG.
(Reporting by Sanskriti Shekhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Joyjeet Das)
