Earnings roundup

Several companies, including some that are based in Utah or have ties to the state, reported quarterly financial results on Thursday.

Costco

Costco Wholesale Corp. said its fiscal third-quarter profit fell 5 percent as the company continued to factor in the higher cost of product returns it discovered during an internal study this year. However, sales at the warehouse retailer advanced at a double-digit pace.

Earnings for the quarter ended May 13 slid to $224 million from $235.6 million. Per-share profit was unchanged year-over-year at 49 cents.

Sales rose 10 percent to $14.34 billion from $13.01 billion. The increase in the returns reserve cut sales by $228.2 million.

Membership fees rose 15 percent to $317.7 million from $276.2 million in the year-ago quarter.

Together, total revenue rose 10 percent to $14.66 billion, just shy of the consensus estimate of $14.68 billion.

Same-store sales, which measures sales at stores open at least a year, rose 7 percent, the company said.

Costco shares fell 6 cents to $56.47 Thursday.

Sears

Retailer Sears Holdings Corp. said its first-quarter earnings grew 20 percent on one-time gains while U.S. store sales dropped.

For the quarter ending May 5, net income was $216 million, or $1.40 per share, compared with $180 million, or $1.14 per share, a year earlier.

Excluding one-time items, including a legal settlement and retirement benefit, the company earned $1.10 per share compared with an adjusted figure of $1.11 per share during the first-quarter in 2006.

Revenue fell to $11.7 billion from $12 billion during the year-ago period.

The Hoffman Estates-based company said its improved operating results at Sears Canada and lower expenses at Sears stores in the U.S. were offset by declines at Kmart.

Sears shares fell $3.23, or 1.8 percent, to $180.02 Thursday.

Mity Enterprises

Orem-based Mity Enterprises Inc. said net income for the company's fourth fiscal quarter was $770,000, or 22 cents per diluted share, compared to net income of $1.4 million, or 33 cents per diluted share, for the same period last year.