The Sports Authority, Inc. announced that it expects to report a same store sales decline of approximately 2% and fully diluted earnings per share in the range of 90 cents to 95 cents for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2004. This compares to TSA’s previous fourth quarter guidance of flat same store sales and fully diluted earnings per share of $1.08.
Doug Morton, Chief Executive Officer commented, “Prior to Christmas, our planned sales improvements in the winter product categories, in most of our cold weather markets, did not materialize as these markets experienced significantly less snowfall amounts than normal. In addition, sales of hunting and camping merchandise and holiday driven categories, such as table games and scooters, were below plan. These sales shortfalls were partially offset by strong apparel sales and the continued positive performance of the remodeled Sports Authority store locations. As colder temperatures returned and snowfall occurred post-Christmas, we experienced improved sales in the winter product categories.”
