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Brown Shoe profit doubles in Q1, sales jump

25 May '06

3 min read

Inventories at quarter-end were very well controlled at $404.6 million, down from $423.7 million at the end of the first quarter in 2005.

Sales at Famous Footwear, the company's 952-store family footwear chain, were up 4.7 percent to $302,318,000 for the quarter, from $288,735,000 for the same 13-week period last year. Same-store sales for the quarter increased 1.9 percent.

The Specialty Retail segment, which includes Naturalizer, Via Spiga, FX LaSalle, Franco Sarto and other concept stores, plus the Shoes.com e-commerce business, reported sales of $56,387,000, an increase of 5.9 percent over last year's $53,260,000.

The segment's operating loss decreased to $2,903,000 from last year's loss of $3,509,000, as better results were achieved in our Naturalizer stores where the gross margin rate improved and better expense leverage was achieved following the closing of 95 underperforming stores in 2005.

The 312 US and Canadian-based stores had a same-store sales increase of 0.6 percent. The division opened one store during the quarter and closed three.

For fiscal 2006, the company reiterates its guidance for sales of approx. $2.48 billion, and now expects net earnings per diluted share of $2.25 to $2.30 on a post-split basis, which is an increase over the lower end of its prior guidance of $2.23 to $2.30.

On an adjusted basis, earnings per diluted share for fiscal 2006 are estimated at $2.40 to $2.45, compared to adjusted earnings per share of $2.22 in fiscal 2005 on a post-split basis, as set forth in Schedule 5.

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