Cabela’s saw a securitization transaction involving their credit card receivables impact their Financial Services segment’s' securitization income by roughly $2.0 million after tax, or three cents per diluted share, in the second quarter ended July 3, resulting in a it to net income for the period. Since this annual transaction occurred in Q1 last year, the company pointed to its H1 earnings picture as a more realistic refection of the business. First half YTD net income increased 62.7% to $10 million and EPS jumped 54.5% to 17 cents per diluted share.

The weather was apparently not a factor where Cabela’s built their stores as revenue generated by the company’s Retail segment rose to 34.6% of total revenues, versus 29.1% of sales in the year-ago period. The 32.1% gain in Retail sales was due primarily to the opening of the company’s Hamburg, PA store in September 2003 as well as a 2.5% increase in same-store sales for the period.

Due to the tremendous lift a quarter gets from a store opening, CAB doesn’t add a store to the comp store calculation until it has been open for 15 months versus the normal 12 month period for most retailers.

Cabela’s said they expect more than eight million people to visit the store by year-end as it continues to outperform sales and operating profit projections.

The company’s tenth store will open in Wheeling, WV in August, increasing total retail square footage by 15.3% to a total of 1.3 million square feet. CAB now plans to open three new stores next year, up from its planned two stores in Texas.

In the Retail segment, Fishing Equipment, Camping, Women’s and Children’s Casual Wear, and Archery were cited as the key categories for the period.

The segment’s quarter was reportedly impacted by the elimination of certain promotional events, which cut about $1.8 million in revenue from the period. CAB also pointed out that comp store sales are impacted by the timing of catalog mailings, a fact that played a role in Q2 as the retailer pushed certain fall books to the third quarter. The same action is expected to boost the Direct business for the current period.

Operating income for the Retail segment increased 24.2% for Q2 to $7.6 million, a 50 basis point decline in operating margin to 7.9% versus 8.4% in Q2 last year.
On the Direct side of the business, Women’s and Children’s Casual Wear, Archery, and Fishing Equipment were all seen as key contributors.

The Direct segment was also impacted by the elimination of a major promotion, a change that reportedly caused a negative impact of approximately $4.3 million for the quarter.

CAB sees the Direct business declining about 10% whenever they go into a new market, but it bounces back as new customers get to know the brand. Direct revenue for Q2 slipped to 59.4% of total revenues from 65.0% in the year-ago period.

Operating income for the Direct segment was down 18.0% for the quarter to $18.4 million, a 260 basis point decline in operating margin to 11.0% versus 13.7% in Q2 last year.
Looking ahead, Cabela’s sees long-term comp store sales increases in the 3% to 5% range. The company did not provide any sales or earnings guidance for the year.

>>> Funny how the weather — and seasonal outdoor goods — didn’t seem to be a negative here…

Cabela’s saw a securitization transaction involving their credit card receivables impact their Financial Services segment’s' securitization income by roughly $2.0 million after tax, or three cents per diluted share, in the second quarter ended July 3, resulting in a it to net income for the period. Since this annual transaction occurred in Q1 last year, the company pointed to its H1 earnings picture as a more realistic refection of the business. First half YTD net income increased 62.7% to $10 million and EPS jumped 54.5% to 17 cents per diluted share.

The weather was apparently not a factor where Cabela’s built their stores as revenue generated by the company’s Retail segment rose to 34.6% of total revenues, versus 29.1% of sales in the year-ago period. The 32.1% gain in Retail sales was due primarily to the opening of the company’s Hamburg, PA store in September 2003 as well as a 2.5% increase in same-store sales for the period.

Due to the tremendous lift a quarter gets from a store opening, CAB doesn’t add a store to the comp store calculation until it has been open for 15 months versus the normal 12 month period for most retailers.

Cabela’s said they expect more than eight million people to visit the store by year-end as it continues to outperform sales and operating profit projections.

The company’s tenth store will open in Wheeling, WV in August, increasing total retail square footage by 15.3% to a total of 1.3 million square feet. CAB now plans to open three new stores next year, up from its planned two stores in Texas.

In the Retail segment, Fishing Equipment, Camping, Women’s and Children’s Casual Wear, and Archery were cited as the key categories for the period.

The segment’s quarter was reportedly impacted by the elimination of certain promotional events, which cut about $1.8 million in revenue from the period. CAB also pointed out that comp store sales are impacted by the timing of catalog mailings, a fact that played a role in Q2 as the retailer pushed certain fall books to the third quarter. The same action is expected to boost the Direct business for the current period.

Operating income for the Retail segment increased 24.2% for Q2 to $7.6 million, a 50 basis point decline in operating margin to 7.9% versus 8.4% in Q2 last year.

On the Direct side of the business, Women’s and Children’s Casual Wear, Archery, and Fishing Equipment were all seen as key contributors.

The Direct segment was also impacted by the elimination of a major promotion, a change that reportedly caused a negative impact of approximately $4.3 million for the quarter.

CAB sees the Direct business declining about 10% whenever they go into a new market, but it bounces back as new customers get to know the brand. Direct revenue for Q2 slipped to 59.4% of total revenues from 65.0% in the year-ago period.

Operating income for the Direct segment was down 18.0% for the quarter to $18.4 million, a 260 basis point decline in operating margin to 11.0% versus 13.7% in Q2 last year.
Looking ahead, Cabela’s sees long-term comp store sales increases in the 3% to 5% range. The company did not provide any sales or earnings guidance for the year.

>>> Funny how the weather — and seasonal outdoor goods — didn’t seem to be a negative here…