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Kmart Earnings Drop Despite Sales Gain: The nation’s second-largest retailer said second-quarter net income fell 39% to $102 million, or 22 cents a share, from $168 million, or 37 cents a share, in the year-earlier quarter. Sales rose 11.6% to $10.2 billion. Chairman Joseph Antonini said warm weather in most parts of the country has helped boost recent Kmart sales, following winter storms that kept shoppers at home. Second-quarter results were hurt by a number of factors, including a $39-million operating loss at Pace Membership Warehouse, a Kmart specialty retailing unit.