Foot Locker, Inc. reported sales for the 13-week period ended November 1, 2003 of $1.2 billion, versus $1.1 billion in the comparable period last year, an increase of 6.6%. For this same 13-week period, comparable store sales increased 0.4%.
For the 39-week period ended November 1, 2003, sales increased 4.6 percent to $3,445 million, from $3,295 million in the Company's corresponding period last year. Comparable-store sales for the Company's first nine months of its 2003 fiscal year decreased 2.2 percent.
Excluding the effect of foreign currency fluctuations, total sales for the same 13-week period and 39-week period increased 3.3 percent and 0.9 percent, respectively.
“We are very encouraged that our comparable store sales in our U.S. operations improved significantly during the third quarter versus the previous six months of the current year,” stated Matthew D. Serra, Foot Locker, Inc.'s President and Chief Executive Officer. “Our third quarter results are also expected to reflect the benefits of a higher gross margin rate and tight expense controls — a continuation of a trend also enjoyed during the first six months of this year. Therefore, we currently anticipate our third quarter 2003 per share income from continuing operations to exceed our previous guidance and Wall Street analysts' estimates of $0.31-to-$0.33 per share.”
