Golfsmith International saw the addition of six new stores and a weak Q3 last year, combine to create a 15.7% jump in sales revenues for the third quarter of 2005. These revenue gains trickled down to more than double the company’s net income, though off a small base.

The company posted net revenues of $85.5 million for the quarter ended October 1, up 15.7% from revenues of $73.9 million for the year-ago period. The increase in net revenues was comprised of an $8.4 million increase in non-comparable store net revenues paired with a 6.2% increase in comparable store net revenues. The same-store sales increase did come off a weak quarter last year in which the retailer posted a 7.9% decrease in comparable sales. Direct-to-consumer channel net revenues increased $0.3 million, or 1.4% from last year’s quarter. International net revenues decreased by $0.3 million, or 20.4%, due primarily to the sale of the rights to a trademark in fiscal 2004, which contributed approximately one-third of international net revenues in Q3 2004.

Gross margins increased 170 basis points to 34.9% of net revenues, compared to 33.2% of net revenues in the year-ago quarter. Management attributed the increase in gross margin to increases in vendor allowances and to the company realizing economies of scale due to continued retail store growth. Operating income was $4.1 million, up 57.7% from last year's $2.6 million while net income more than doubled to $1.2 million from $0.5 million during last year's quarter.