Federated Department Stores Inc., operator of Macy's and Bullocks, reported a slight decline in profit for its fiscal first quarter as sales fell and its stores joined rivals in cutting prices to clear out merchandise. Federated said escalating energy costs and electricity shortages in California also hurt results.
Profit from operations fell to $86 million, or 42 cents a share, but topped the 36-cent average estimate of analysts polled by First Call/Thomson Financial. Sales were off 5.2% at $3.82 billion.
