Hibbett Sports Inc. warned Monday that a shift in sales tax holidays by 10 states caused a decline in comp store sales and earnings during the 13 weeks ended Aug. 1.
The retailer said preliminary results indicate that while net sales increased 2.8 percent to $199.3 million compared with $193.9 million for the fiscal second quarter ended Aug. 2, 2014, comparable store sales decreased 1.1 percent.
Based on preliminary second quarter results, earnings per diluted share for the fiscal second quarter are expected to be in the range of 26 cents to 28 cents compared with the 32 cents per diluted share reported for the year earlier period. Hibbett Sports plans to report full second quarter results on Aug. 21.
“For the second quarter, comparable store sales were softer than expected,” said Hibbett Sports President and Chief Executive Officer Jeff Rosenthal. “While we anticipated slower sales due to 10 states delaying their tax-free weekend by one week (from the last weekend in fiscal July in the prior year to the first week of fiscal August this year), there also was underlying business softness. Details about sales trends in early August and our future outlook will be discussed when we report full second quarter results on August 21, 2015.”
