Golfsmith International Holdings, Inc. reported that sales for the fiscal second quarter ended July 2 improved 10.3 percent to $130.2 million from $118.0 million in the year-ago period.


The golf retailer recorded a 7.0 percent increase in same-store sales, which contributed to revenues of $109.3 million from its Retail Stores segment, up 11.3 percent from $98.2 million in fiscal Q2 last year.

 

In a conference call with analysts, management said comps were driven by higher conversion rates, increased AOV and a slight improvement in traffic.


Total revenues benefitted from one new store opening.


Sales for the companys Direct segment improved 9.0 percent to $18.3 million from $16.8 million a year-ago as strong sales from the Web offset weakness from the companys club making department and a reduction in the circulation of the consumer catalog.


Earnings for the quarter were $8.3 million, or 49 cents per diluted share, compared to earnings of $6.2 million, or 36 cents per diluted share, in the year-ago period. Excluding lease termination charges, earnings were $8.5 million, or 50 cents per share.


Gross margin for the quarter increased 10 basis points to 35.1 percent of sales as compared to 35.0 percent for the same period last year. Management said the gross margin improvement consisted of a 70 basis point increase in merchandise margin, which was primarily due to a sales mix shift towards our higher-margin goods such as shoes and apparel.
Management said in the conference call that month-to-date July sales were up at a rate consistent with Q2.