CHICAGO (AP) -– Kmart shoppers and cost-cutting helped Sears Holdings Corp. boost its profit as the retailer posted its best quarterly profit in three years, the department store chain said Tuesday.

Led by financier Chairman Edward Lampert, Sears has spent years struggling as customers skipped out on its brands for competitors.
But in the fall, business began to turn around at its Kmart discount chain when sales at those stores rose for the first time since 2002 as deal-seeking shoppers returned to stores.
The owner of Sears and Kmart says it earned $430 million, or $3.74 per share, during the fourth quarter. That's up from a profit of $190 million, or $1.55 per share, during the same period last year. Excluding one-time items, the company's fourth-quarter profit amounted to $3.69 per share.
Revenue for the three months that ended Jan. 30 dipped less than 1 percent to $13.25 billion.