Target first-quarter profit down on weather-related sales weakness

Target Corp posted a 0.6 percent decline in first-quarter sales at U.S. stores open at least a year on Wednesday after warning investors one month ago that its results would be disappointing as a chilly start to spring kept shoppers from buying seasonal items such as clothing.

Target earned $498 million, or 77 cents per share, in the first quarter ended on May 4, compared with a profit of $697 million, or $1.04 per share, a year earlier.

(Reporting by Jessica Wohl in Chicago; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)