The Finish Line reported net sales of $305,263,000 for the thirteen weeks ended February 28, 2004, an increase of 30% over net sales of $234,426,000 for Q4 last year. Comparable store net sales for Q4 increased 19% on top of a 10% increase reported for the comparable thirteen-week period last year.
For the full fiscal year ended February 28, 2004, net sales were $985,891,000, an increase of 30% over net sales of $757,159,000 reported for the fifty-two week period last year ended March 1, 2003. Year to date comparable store net sales increased 20% versus a 3% increase reported for the comparable fifty-two weeks last year.
“Our outstanding fourth quarter was a fitting end to a record-breaking year,” stated Alan H. Cohen, Finish Line's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “Strong holiday business, with December comps up 22%, continued through the period with a 16% increase in January and an 18% increase in February. We continue to benefit from our position as the premier destination for athletic footwear. Exciting new product assortments in key categories including running, basketball and casual drove more customers into our stores during this quarter.”
For the quarter, footwear comparable store sales increased 14% on top of a 7% gain for Q4 LY while softgoods comparable store sales increased 35% on top of an 18% gain for Q4 LY. Inventory levels are expected to be up 9-11% per square foot as of the end of Q4. Increased flow of new inventory continues to be strong, and aged inventory (products 365 days or older) is at a historic low, positioning the Company well to begin the new fiscal year.
Due to sales significantly exceeding plan and improved product margins versus Q4 LY, the Company now anticipates that diluted income per share for the 4th quarter will range from $.82 to $.84 as compared to previous guidance of diluted income per share of $.73 to $.75. For Q4 LY, the Company reported diluted income per share of $.66 ($.50 after excluding a net $.16 benefit from the tornado insurance settlement). Correspondingly, full fiscal year EPS guidance is being increased from a previous range of $1.82 to $1.86 to a new range of $1.92 to $1.94. The Company is increasing the comparable store sales guidance for the first quarter of Fiscal 2005 to +5% from +3%. Accordingly, the new full year guidance for Fiscal 2005 is $2.22 to $2.26 per diluted share based on the sales guidance increase and improved fourth quarter results. The Company expects to report earnings for Q4 on Thursday, March 25th, after the market closes followed by a live conference call Friday morning, March 26th at 8:30 am ET.
During Q4, the Company did not open any new stores, remodeled two existing stores and closed one store. For the fiscal year, the Company opened a total of 58 new stores, remodeled 27 stores and closed four stores. As of February 28, 2004, the Company operated 531 stores compared to 477 at March 1, 2003, an increase of 11%. In addition, store square footage increased 9% to 3,081,000 square feet compared to 2,839,000 square feet at March 1, 2003.
The Company did not repurchase any shares of Class A Common Stock during Q4 under the stock repurchase authorization, which expired February 28, 2004. To date the Company has repurchased 1,861,600 shares (@ an average price of $8.34 per share) of the 2,500,000 shares authorized by the Board of Directors.
