TJX May same-store sales rise 2 percent

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Off-price retailer TJX Cos. Inc (TJX.N) on Thursday reported a slightly better-than-expected 2 percent rise in May sales at stores open at least a year.

Analysts, on average, had been expecting an increase of 1.8 percent, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Framingham, Massachusetts-based TJX, which operates the T.J. Maxx and Marshalls chains, said its total sales for the four weeks ended May 31 were $1.45 billion, up more than 6 percent from the same period last year.

TJX, like other off-price retailers, buys excess merchandise from manufacturers in bulk below wholesale prices.

The company said its May results were at the high end of its expectations, as all its divisions met or exceeded expectations.

(Reporting by Martinne Geller; Editing by Derek Caney)