FEBRUARY U.S. RETAIL SALES NOT SIGN OF UPTURN U.S. retailers posted stronger than expected sales in February, but not enough to prompt analysts to change their expectations of sluggish sales growth for the first half of 1987. "My feeling is that it (February) borrowed some of the business we normally see later in the quarter and the real strength of general merchandise sales will be in the second half of 1987," said Bear Stearns and Co analyst Monroe Greenstein. "I don't think March will be as strong because Easter falls in April this year," said Morgan Stanley analyst Walter Loeb. Analysts generally average the sales results of March and April to account for the variation of Easter's occurrence. Analyst Edward Johnson of Johnson Redbook Associates said sales for February rose between six and 6.5 pct, compared to a 3.6 pct increase last year. Analysts noted that February is considered a small, transitory month between winter and spring. In addition, sales comparisons were boosted by an especially soft February last year which was adversely affected by severe weather. Apparel sales outshone other product groups in sales, according to retailers and analysts. "February's strong sales reflected a lot of fresh merchandise on the shelves and higher consumer income due to tax reductions," said Greenstein of Bear Stearns. Analysts expect apparel sales to remain good as sales of durable and houseware items grow softer due to the continuing high levels of consumer debt. May Department Stores Co <MAY> and K Mart Corp <KM> were among the strong performers, posting comparable store sales gains of 9.4 pct and 8.2 pct, respectively. May had an overall sales gain of 15.0 pct and K Mart had a 13.1 pct sales gain last month. "Favorable consumer response to our merchandise programs continued to positively impact our sales comparisons. IN addition to the strong contribution by K Mart stores, all our specialty retailing companies had excellent February sales," said K Mart chairman Bernard Fauber. Sears Roebuck and Co <S> posted a 4.9 pct increase. "Domestic sales were led by better than average increases in apparel, home fashions and hardware and especially strong catalog sales," said Sears chairman Edward Brennan. Analysts were a little disappointed by J.C. Penney Co Inc <JCP> which started out with especially strong sales early in the month. Penney posted a 5.5 pct increase on a comparitive store basis and a 5.3 pct gain in overall sales. Penney chairman William Howell said, "store sales were strongest during the early part of the month, while catalog demand was consistently strong throughout the period. Store sales activity varied throughout the country, ranging from good in the East to weak in the depressed southwest. Analysts also said gross profit margins were high as retailers were not overly promotional due to leaner inventories than a year ago. "February is not a big month seasonally but these numbers suggest a fairly good trend for consumer spending," said Drexel Burnham Lambert analyst Jeff Edelman. FEBRUARY SALES FOR MAJOR U.S. RETAILERS STORE PCT 1987 1986 SEARS 4.9 1.8 BILL 1.8 BILL K MART 13.1 1.5 BILL 1.3 BILL WAL-MART 44.0 885 MLN 615 MLN JC PENNEY 5.3 780 MLN 741 MLN FEDERATED 9.6 720 MLN 657 MLN MAY 15.0 632 MLN 550 MLN DAYTON HUDSON 19.5 602 MLN 504 MLN ZAYRE 25.7 327 MLN 260 MLN MONTGOMERY WARD 11.1 277 MLN 249 MLN