Shoe Carnival, Inc. reported earnings for the second quarter increased more than five-fold, to $977,000, or 8 cents a share,, from $167,000, or 1 cent, a year ago. Sales increased 2.4% to $158.5 million compared to sales of $154.8 million for the prior year second quarter. Comparable store sales decreased 1.0%.
The gross profit margin for the second quarter was 26.6% compared to 26.0% in the prior year. As a percentage of sales, the merchandise margin increased 0.9% while buying, distribution and occupancy costs increased 0.3%.
Selling, general and administrative expenses for the second quarter were $40.7 million, or 25.7% of sales, compared to $40.1 million, or 25.9% of sales, for the second quarter of 2007.
Speaking on the results for the quarter, Mark Lemond, chief executive officer and president said, “Although consumers continued to face a great deal of economic pressure during the second quarter, we believe their use of the government stimulus checks did provide a short-term boost in our sales. We were able to increase the average realized price for our footwear, particularly within our adult and children’s athletic categories. This price increase resulted in the second consecutive quarter of an increase in athletic footwear sales in comparable stores.
Our second quarter performance continued to reflect strong inventory management and effective expense control. Our merchants reduced year-over-year inventory on a per store basis by approximately 7.0 percent and actually improved merchandise margins. Despite a 1.0 percent decrease in comparable store sales, we were able to leverage our selling, general and administrative expenses by 0.2 percent.”
Net income for the first half of 2008 was $5.8 million, or 46 cents per diluted share, compared with net income of $7.5 million, or 55 cents per diluted share, in the first half last year. Net sales for the first six months was $320.6 million compared to net sales of $320.5 million for the same period last year. Comparable store sales for the twenty-six week period ended August 2, 2008 decreased 3.0% compared to the twenty-six week period last year ended August 4, 2007. The gross profit margin for the first six months of 2008 was 27.8% compared to 28.1% last year. Selling, general and administrative expenses, as a percentage of sales, was 24.9% for the first six months of 2008 as compared to 24.8% last year.
