At the end of the quarter, unshipped wholesale orders for shipments in fiscal 2005 were up 6 percent versus the same period last year, excluding orders associated with the Bennett brands.
First Half Results
For the first half of fiscal 2005, sales increased 13.1 percent to $1,074,763,000 compared with $950,489,000 last year. Net earnings for the first six months were $7,862,000 or $0.42 per diluted share, compared to $16,194,000, or $0.85 per diluted share, the year before.
First half fiscal 2005 net earnings reflect the following charges: (i) a $9,564,000 tax provision, or $0.51 per share, related to the repatriation of $60,463,000 of foreign earnings under the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004; (ii) an after-tax cost of $635,000, or $0.03 per diluted share, for a bridge loan fee incurred in connection with financing the acquisition of Bennett Footwear (completed April 22, 2005); and (iii) an after-tax cost of $1,798,000 or $0.09 per share to close underperforming Naturalizer stores and streamline certain wholesale functions. In the year-ago period, results reflected costs of $3,024,000 after-tax, or $0.16 per diluted share, for the assimilation and transition of the Bass footwear license, which Brown Shoe acquired February 2, 2004.
Second Quarter Conference Call
Brown Shoe will hold a conference call to discuss second quarter results today at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time (Tuesday, August 23). Click investor section in company website for further information.
Brown Shoe, through its Wholesale divisions, owns and markets leading footwear brands including Naturalizer, LifeStride, Via Spiga, Nickels Soft, Connie and Buster Brown; it also markets licensed brands including Franco Sarto, Dr. Scholl's, Etienne Aigner, Bass and Carlos by Carlos Santana for adults, and Barbie, Bob-the-Builder and Disney character footwear for children.
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