TJX Co.'s fiscal second-quarter earnings fell 57 percent

Data breaches are not only embarassing to the companies involved, they also affect the bottom line. In evidence: Farmingham, Massachusetts-based TJX Co.’s fiscal second-quarter earningsfell 57 percent, due to a charge of $118 million related to the theft of credit-card data from a Marshall’s store, of which $11 million was for costs incurred in the quarter and $107 million was a reserve for its exposure to potential losses. The off-price retailer had second-quarter earnings of $59 million, or 13 cents a share, compared with $138.2 million, or 29 cents a share, a year earlier. Excluding the charge for the computer intrusions, the company earned 38 cents a share. TJX said revenue for the quarter ending 28 July rose 8.8 percent to $4.31 billion from $3.96 billion a year ago.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial expected, on average, earnings of 37 cents a share on revenue of $4.33 billion. Analyst earnings forecasts typically exclude unusual items. In addition, TJX said it expects third-quarter earnings from continuing operations of 53 cents to 55 cents a share, and same-store sales growth of 3 percent to 4 percent. The company also forecast fiscal 2008 earnings from continuing operations of $1.57 to $1.61 a share, or $1.84 to $1.88 a share excluding charges related to the theft of credit-card data, and same-store sales growth of 3 percent to 4 percent.