Brown Shoe Company Q3 net sales up 3.8 percent

REPORT_ Brown Shoe Company reported third quarter 2014 financial results, with net sales of 729.3 million dollars up 3.8 percent versus third quarter 2013 net sales of 702.8 million dollars. Third quarter 2014 net earnings of 33.1 million dollars, or 0.75 dollars per diluted share, were up 21.2 percent compared to net earnings of 27.3 million dollars, or 0.63 dollars per diluted share. Gross margin was 39.9 percent up 30 basis points compared to 39.6 percent in the prior year.

“Wholesale overachieved again, with sales up 18.2 percent in third quarter, and both Healthy Living and Contemporary Fashion contributed strong double-digit sales improvement. At Famous Footwear, our focus on big ideas for back-to-school continued to deliver. Same-store-sales were up 1.6 percent, for the 10 weeks that make up this key selling season,” said Diane Sullivan, CEO, President and Chairman of Brown Shoe Company.

Famous Footwear third quarter 2014 sales of 435.4 million dollars were down 1 percent year-over-year, with same-store-sales down 0.2 percent. For the back-to-school selling season, weeks 24 through 33, same-store-sales were up 1.6 percent. During the quarter, six stores were closed or relocated and 12 new stores were added.

Wholesale sales of 242.6 million dollars were up 18.2 percent in the third quarter. For the Healthy Living platform, wholesale sales of 118.3 million dollars were up 12.4 percent, while Contemporary Fashion wholesale sales of 124.1 million dollars were up 24.4 percent. Consolidated gross profit of 290.7 million dollars was up 4.5 percent in the third quarter, while gross margin improved by 30 basis points to 39.9 percent. For the quarter, operating margins improved approximately 90 basis points year-over-year to 7.3 percent.

“Thanks to strong wholesale results in the third quarter, along with steady performance at Famous Footwear, we are raising our full-year EPS guidance to 1.65 dollars to 1.69 dollars,” said Russ Hammer, Chief Financial Officer of Brown Shoe Company.