March 12 Reuters Kohl39;s on Tuesday forecast annual sales and profit largely below market expectations, joining Macy39;s and Nordstrom to warn of a challenging year for U.S. department stores.

Shares of Kohl39;s, which gained about 14 in 2023, fell 2 in early trading as it posted a steeperthanexpected drop in samestore sales in the fourth quarter.

The retailer39;s results round up a tough year for American department store chains, which have struggled as budgetconscious shoppers shift to offprice retailers like TJX and Burlington Stores.

Kohl39;s sales fell for eight quarters in a row, similar to trends seen by rivals Macy39;s and Nordstrom.

Kohl39;s still has plenty more work to do as its topline results fell short and are still well behind its prepandemic revenues, said Zak Stambor, senior analyst at Emarketer.

Inventory declined 10 in the fourth quarter, helping a 937 basis points jump in gross margin.

It forecast fiscal 2024 earnings per share in the range of 2.10 to 2.70, the midpoint of which was below analysts39; average estimate of 2.61, according to LSEG data.

Kohl39;s is planning to spend about 500 million to expand its partnership with LVMHowned beauty brand Sephora and expects sales to exceed its prior goal of 2 billion by 2025, CEO Tom Kingsbury said.

The company has leaned on its cobrand cards to offset impact from a new credit card late fee ruling in the second half and forecast net sales between a 1 decline and 1 increase, compared to estimates…