TJX same-store sales rose 6% in September

By Chris Reidy, Globe Staff

TJX Cos., the Framingham company that operates such retail chains as T.J. Maxx, Marshalls, and HomeGoods, said Thursday that its September same-store sales rose 6 percent ---
“well above plan” --- when compared to the same month a year ago.

The company added that it was updating its third-quarter outlook.

Same-store sales, or sales at stores open at least a year, are considered a strong measure of a retailer’s performance, and they are closely watched by Wall Street analysts.

“With above-plan sales in September, the company would have raised its EPS (earnings per share) outlook for the third quarter,” TJX said in a press release. “However, the company also announced that it now estimates that it will record a $.02 per share non-cash, one-time charge in its fiscal 2013 third quarter for the cumulative impact of a correction to its pension accrual for prior fiscal years. As a result of this previously unanticipated charge, the company is maintaining its previous guidance for third quarter earnings per share to be near the high end of the range of $.56 - $.59.”