Ross same-store sales jump in July

Pleasanton-based Ross Stores said Thursday that its same-store sales jumped in July and the discount retailer raised its outlook for future profits.

The retailer said sales for stores open at least a year were up 7 percent last month. Sales for the month totaled $2.34 billion.

Pleasanton-based Ross also said profit for the second quarter that ended in July should be higher than previously thought.

In previous guidance, Ross had estimated profit would range from 77 cents to 78 cents a share. The off-price apparel retailer now reckons profit will range from 80 cents to 81 cents a share.

Shares of Ross climbed 0.2 percent, or 16 cents, and finished at $66.27.

Peet's profit dwindles, sales perk up

Emeryville-based Peet's Coffee & Tea suffered a slump in quarterly profit but produced a surge in sales for the three months that ended July 1, the beverage retailer reported Thursday.

The earnings report was the first since Germany-based equity firm Joh. A. Benckiser disclosed July 23 that it had struck a deal to buy Peet's for $1 billion in cash in an agreement that will take Peet's private.

Benckiser said it would pay $73.50 to purchase Peet's. The stock closed at $74.74, down 12 cents, or 0.2 percent Thursday. In contrast, the S&P 500 index fell 0.7 percent.

Peet's earned $4 million

Clorox profit beats Wall Street view

Clorox sparkled Thursday with quarterly profit that beat expectations, using higher prices and cost-cutting to bolster its earnings, the company reported.

The maker of its namesake bleach and other household products earned $174 million on sales of $1.54 billion for its fourth quarter of fiscal 2012 that ended in June.

Compared with the year-ago quarter, profit rose 3 percent, while sales increased 4 percent, Oakland-based Clorox said.

For all of fiscal 2012, Clorox earned $541 million on sales of $5.47 billion.

-- Staff