May, Dillard Post Profits on Operations

May Department Stores Co. and Dillard Department Stores Inc. reported gains in third-quarter operating earnings Monday.

May reported a net loss because of one-time restructuring charges, but when those costs were factored out, it posted a nearly 19% earnings rise.

Dillard, meanwhile, reported a 14% earnings gain.

Some retailers are faring better this year as sales gradually improve or expense controls pay off.

May Department Stores Co. reported a loss of $190 million in the quarter ended Oct. 31 because of after-tax charges of $298 million, mostly to cover the costs of division consolidations and store closings.

The loss, which amounted to $1.56 a share, contrasted with earnings of $91 million, or 70 cents a share, for the same period last year.

Revenue totaled $2.67 billion, up from $2.56 billion a year earlier.

Without the charges, May had earnings of $108 million.

May took the charges in connection with the consolidation of its Robinson’s and May Co.-California divisions into one unit, Robinsons-May, and the merger of May Co.-Ohio into the company’s Kaufmann’s division. The G. Fox division was consolidated into May’s Filene’s unit. Fourteen stores were closed as part of the consolidations.

Industry analysts consider May one of the best-financed retailers in the country.

The St. Louis-based company has benefited recently from a slow improvement in department store sales. Chairman David C. Farrell said May was positioned to take advantage of the coming holiday season and was encouraged by a pickup in sales in recent weeks.

May is the largest department store retailer in the nation, with 321 department stores and 3,495 Payless ShoeSource stores at the end of the quarter. Its department stores include Lord & Taylor, Hecht’s and Foley’s.

Dillard Department Stores Inc. said it earned $44.4 million, or 40 cents per share, for the quarter ended Oct. 31, up from $39 million, or 35 cents per share, for the same quarter of 1991.

Sales totaled nearly $1.17 billion, up from $954.94 million in the same quarter last year.

Little Rock, Ark.-based Dillard, considered a strong performer among the nation’s retailers, operates 220 department stores in 19 states.