Hibbett Sporting Goods, Inc. announced net sales for the fourth quarter ended February 1, 2003, increased 12.0% to $75.5 million compared with $67.4 million for the 13-week period ended February 2, 2002. Comparable store sales for the fourth quarter increased 2.4% over the prior-year period.
For the 52-week fiscal year ended February 1, 2003, net sales increased 15.8% to $279.2 million, a new Company record, compared with $241.1 million for the 52-week period ended February 2, 2002. Comparable store sales for the year increased 3.9% over the prior-year period.
For the quarter, the Company opened 16 new stores and closed one. For the year, the Company opened 45 new stores and closed three, bringing the total to 371 stores in 20 states. Hibbett expects to open approximately 65 new stores in fiscal 2004.
Commenting on the announcement, Mickey Newsome, President and Chief Executive Officer, stated, “The strong traffic that started the week of Christmas continued through the entire month of January, leading to a 5.9% comparable store sales increase in January. Given the double-digit increase in comparable store sales in January a year ago, we are very encouraged by the strength in footwear and apparel sales during the latter half of this quarter. Sales by category for the quarter were consistent with the trends cited in our Holiday sales release on January 9, 2003. Footwear sales were led by basketball and classic-oriented styles, and college and pro-licensed products drove the apparel category. Lacking any popular big-ticket items as in prior years, the equipment category was once again soft. Based upon these results, we remain comfortable with our previous guidance for the fourth quarter and expect to report earnings per diluted share in the range of $0.39 to $0.41 in mid-March 2003.”
