Retail Sales

BY

Investors on Tuesday will get a snapshot of whether summer markdowns continued to help retailers at a time when consumers are worried about a housing slump.

Two sets of weekly retail sales report -- The International Council of Shopping Centers-UBS Index and the Johnson Redbook Retail Sales Index -- are set for release at 7:45 a.m. EDT and 8:55 a.m. EDT, respectively. There are no consensus estimates available.

For the week ended Aug. 18, the ICSC-UBS Index, which tracks 53 stores, reported that same-store sales, or revenue gains at stores open at least a year, rose 0.2 percent compared with the prior week. Same-store sales climbed 2.7 percent from a year earlier.

The Johnson Redbook Retail Sales Index, which monitors 9,000 retail units, said same-store sales edged up 2.0 percent for the week ended Aug. 18, compared with the year-ago period.

Same-store sales, or sales at stores open at least a year, is a key indicator of retailer performance since it measures growth at existing stores rather than from newly opened ones.

Sales rose slightly during the second week of August as retailers slashed apparel prices, putting pressure on profit margins, Catlin Levis, a Johnson Redbook analyst, wrote in a note to clients. Hotter weather in certain parts of the country cut into back-to-school apparel sales in favor of electronics like laptops, cell phones and digital cameras, Levis added.

Markdowns by retailers such as AnnTaylor Stores Corp. did little to help boost sales. The women s apparel retailer reported last week its second-quarter earnings plummeted 27 percent on lower traffic and price reductions. Same-store sales also fell 6.2 percent compared to the prior-year period.

Aggressive cost cutting and restructuring helped to lift struggling clothing retailer Gap Inc. s second-quarter profit by 19 percent last week. Even so, the company posted a 5 percent decline in same-store sales from the year-ago period.

Due to weak consumer spending, discount retailer Target Corp. offered a more conservative outlook for the rest of the year. The Minneapolis-based company said its prior estimate of full-year earnings of $3.60 per share still "remains within the range of likely outcomes."

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