Citing favorable winter weather and improved inventory position, Sport Chalet was successful in boosting sales in the fiscal fourth quarter ended March 28, to $90.2 million from $84.5 million in the prior-year period.
The Southern California-based retailer saw a 5.7% bump in same-store sales while simultaneously narrowing its overall net loss to $300,000, or 2 cents per diluted share, for the quarter, compared to a net loss of $11.1 million, or 79 cents in the comparable period. The improvement was driven by the increase in comp sales and a marked improvement in gross margins attributed to decreased markdowns on winter products. GM increased to 27.7% of net sales for the quarter compared to 19.8% for the fourth quarter of the prior year.
Company Chairman and CEO Craig Levra stated, “Although the company has yet to return to profitability-and given that our stores are located in markets hardest hit by unemployment, bankruptcies, home foreclosures and declines in home values-I am pleased that we were able to generate positive same store sales by taking advantage of the favorable weather with adequate inventory levels and increased utilization of our growing Action Pass membership; along with a significantly improved online customer experience at sportchalet.com.
At the same time we were able to keep our focus on our cost containment initiatives. After ten consecutive quarters of negative same store sales, we are hopeful that the increase in the fourth quarter reflects the beginning of a change in trends.”
In terms of full year results, Sport Chalet sales decreased 5.1% to $353.7 million from $372.7 million for fiscal 2009. Lagging same-store sales were the main contributor in a down year, falling 8.4% for the 12-month period. The net loss for fiscal 2010 was reduced to $8.3 million, or 59 cents per diluted share, compared to a net loss of $52.2 million, or a loss of $3.70 per diluted share, for fiscal 2009.
