Cold Weather Shrinks First-Quarter Retail Profits Despite Sales Gain

A chilly start to 2014 in much of the country didn’t knock down sales at large retailers—but it shrunk profits.

After-tax profits for U.S. retailers with more than $50 million in assets fell 11.5% in the first quarter, compared with a year earlier, even as sales grew 3.6%, a Commerce Department report said Monday.