Brown Shoe reports strong Q4 and disappointing FY2004 results
Brown Shoe Company, Inc. has reported a 9.8% rise in net sales for the fourth quarter to $476.5 million from $433.8 million in the year-ago quarter and a 6% increase in net sales for the 52 weeks of fiscal 2004 at $1.942 billion compared to $1.832 billion for the 52 weeks of fiscal 2003. Fourth quarter net earnings were $8.5 million, versus $4.7 million in the year-ago period. For fiscal 2004, Brown Shoe net earnings were $43.3 million compared to $46.2 million on a restated basis in fiscal 2003.
"Famous Footwear enabled us to achieve a solid fourth quarter. Full-year results for fiscal 2004, however, fell short of our expectations primarily due to weaknesses in several key areas of our wholesale business and a poor performance at Naturalizer Retail," said Brown Shoe Chairman and CEO Ron Fromm.
For the fourth quarter, Famous Footwear operating earnings were $11.2 million, a 114.8% increase compared to $5.2 million for fiscal 2003. Net sales increased 8.7% to $263.1 million in 2004 versus $242.0 million in the fourth quarter 2003. The chain increased same-store sales for the quarter by 4.1%.
For fiscal 2004, Famous Footwear achieved a 16.3% increase in operating earnings to $60.3 million, versus $51.8 million in fiscal 2003 on a restated basis. Sales for the year were up 4% to $1.117 billion compared to $1.074 billion in 2003. For the year, same-store sales were up by 0.8%. A total of 70 stores were opened and 44 were closed, to end the year with 919 stores. Gains in operating earnings were achieved by the company's LifeStride, Carlos by Carlos Santana, Dr. Scholl's, and Private Label footwear businesses.
For the fourth quarter the company’s specialty retail division, comprising 359 Naturalizer stores located throughout the
For the full year, sales for the division were $191.6 million, compared to $189.2 million for 2003. In 2004, 20 stores were opened and 23 were closed. An operating loss of $11.0 million was incurred compared to an operating loss of $3.9 million in 2003 on a restated basis.
