WASHINGTON, Jan. 12 (UPI) -- The U.S. Commerce Department Wednesday said big retailers' after-tax profits in the third quarter of 2004 fell to an average 2.8 percent of sales.
Commerce said large U.S. retailers saw profits fall from 3.3 percent of sales in the second quarter of 2004, but after-tax profits were up from 2.5 percent of sales in the third quarter of 2003.
In the third quarter of 2004, large retail firms, or those with assets of $50 million or more, reported after-tax profits of $11.4 billion, down from $13 billion in the second quarter, but up from $9.6 billion in the third quarter of 2003.
The annual rate of return on shareholders' equity for retail companies on an after-tax basis fell to 14.3 percent in the third quarter of 2004 from 16.9 percent in the second quarter, but was up from 13.1 percent in the third quarter of 2003.
The retail profit data are estimated from a sample survey of quarterly financial reports from about 500 companies and are not seasonally adjusted.
