CINCINNATI - Federated Department Stores says its first-quarter earnings totaled $89 million, or 43 cents per share. <br>
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That barely exceeded the 42-cent earnings per share projected by Wall Street analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial/First Call. <br>
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Federated shareholders meet on Friday at its Cincinnati headquarters. The retailer's 461 stores include Macy's, Bloomingdale's, Lazarus and Rich's. <br>
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Federated's earnings for the first quarter last year totaled $58 million, or 29 cents per share. But that included $26 million dollars in restructuring expenses for closing the retailer's former Stern's store division, based in New Jersey. <br>
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Sales during the first quarter declined three percent to $3.453 billion.
