Finish Line Continues to See Weakness in Women’s in Fiscal Fourth Quarter…

The Finish Line, Inc. saw overall net sales increase 7.5% to $429.0 million for the fourteen week fourth quarter through February from $399.2 million for last year's thirteen week quarter. Excluding the fourteenth week this year (approximately $24.2 million of sales), revenues increased 1.4% from the comparable thirteen-week period last year. Total company comparable store net sales for the quarter decreased 5.4%. By concept, Finish Line comparable store net sales declined 5.8%, but Man Alive comparable store sales increased 4.4%.

FINL CFO Kevin Wampler said in a pre-recorded conference call that women’s footwear decreased in the double-digits in the quarter on a comp basis, while men’s decreased mid-single-digits. Kid’s comp sales were up in the “double-digits for the quarter, driven by Puma, Heelys, Jordan and other marquee styles.” Management noted part of the cause behind the sales decreases was a lack of “new product technology introductions to anniversary the successful History of Air collection and the launch of Air Max 360 from last year.”

Wampler said that “athletic casual and sports style footwear, which seems to be replacing the classics business in men’s and women’s…increased by strong double-digits for the quarter.” Puma was noted as the leader here, with Baby Phat, Ecko, Lacoste and Diesel also performing well. Boots and basketball were said to be soft, though marquee basketball remained strong. Average selling price for overall footwear increased 2.7% during the quarter.

In softgoods, which includes both apparel and accessories, comps declined in the double-digits for each month of the quarter. Wampler said that “the weakness in softgoods is due to continued declines in branded apparel and accessory sales, along with a managed inventory reduction to prepare stores for new spring initiatives.”

At Man Alive, footwear comps increased in the double-digits.

For the fiscal year, consolidated net sales totaled $1.34 billion, an increase of 2.5% from $1.31 billion last year. Excluding the fifty-third week this year, consolidated net sales increased 0.6% from the comparable fifty-two week period last year. Comparable store net sales for the fifty-three week year decreased 5.7% after increasing 0.7% last year. By concept, Finish Line comparable store net sales declined 5.9%, while Man Alive comps increased 1.8%.

The company expects to report income per diluted share in the range of 40 cents to 44 cents for Q4, down from net income per diluted share of 58 cents last year. Included in the earnings range for the fourth quarter is a pre-tax charge of $6.7 million to $7.8 million, or 9 cents to 10 cents per diluted share, for the impairment of assets of 17-19 underperforming stores.

During the quarter, FINL did not open any new Finish Line or Man Alive stores, but did open one Paiva store. Remodels of 2 existing Finish Line stores as well as the closure of 2 others, resulted in a 3.5% increase in square footage to 3.83 million square feet. The company operated 690 Finish Line stores, 86 Man Alive stores, and 13 Paiva stores at the end of the quarter.