March 4 (Reuters) - Department-store operator Nordstrom

beat Wall Street expectations for quarterly comparable

sales on Tuesday and announced the departure of Chief Financial

Officer Cathy Smith, who will join Starbucks ( SBUX ) as its new

finance chief.

Smith, 61, has been CFO at Nordstrom since 2023 and the

company said it had initiated a search for her replacement.

The Nordstrom family teamed up with Mexican retailer

Liverpool late last year to clinch a $4-billion deal to take the

department-store chain private.

The company reported fourth-quarter comparable sales

growth of 4.7%, compared with an estimate of 1.25%, according to

data compiled by LSEG.

"Customers responded positively to the strength of our

offering across both banners in the fourth quarter," said Chief

Executive Officer Erik Nordstrom.

The company, which reported a net earnings increase of

23% to $165 million in the quarter ended February 1, said that

it would not provide an annual forecast due to the pending

transaction.

It was originally scheduled to report fourth-quarter

results after markets close on Tuesday.

(Reporting by Juveria Tabassum in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj

Kalluvila)