* Q4 shr $1.31 vs est $1.28
Stocks | Cyclical Consumer Goods
* Sees Q1 shr $0.60 to $0.65 vs est $0.53
* Sees FY shr $2.65 to $2.75 vs est 2.64
March 3 (Reuters) – Big Lots Inc (BIG.N) on Wednesday reported a higher quarterly profit helped by better sales and lower costs, and the close-out retailer forecast first-quarter earnings above Wall Street expectations.
The company also increased the size of its share repurchase program to $400 million.
Big Lots, which specializes in sales of excess inventory, said profit for its fourth-quarter ended Jan. 30 was $105.4 million, or $1.29 per share, compared with $78.8 million, or 97 per share a year ago.
On an adjusted basis, the company earned $1.31 a share.
Sales rose 7 percent to $1.46 billion. [ID:nWNAB4579]
For the latest fourth quarter, analysts on average were expecting earnings of $1.28 per share, on revenue of $1.45 billion according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Big Lots sells everything from home appliances to toys at its stores. The company buys extra inventory from manufacturers and sells them at discounted rates.
For the first quarter, the company expects earnings of 60 cents a share to 65 cents a share from continuing operations.
Analysts were looking at earnings of 53 cents a share, on revenue of $1.20 billion for the period. (Reporting by Nivedita Bhattacharjee in Bangalore; Editing by Anthony Kurian)
