West Marine, Inc. reported that net sales for the fourth quarter were $124.8 million, an increase of 5.7% from net sales of $118.1 million a year ago. Comparable store sales for the fourth quarter of 2005 increased 3.9%, compared to a comparable store sales decrease of (3.3%) reported for the fourth quarter a year ago. Fourth quarter comparable store sales by region were as follows:

 
                2005        2004
               ------      ------
Northeast       3.9%       (7.7%)
Southeast       1.0%        2.0%
Western         8.9%       (7.4%)

Net sales for the fifty-two weeks ended December 31, 2005 were $692.2 million, an increase of 1.4% from net sales of $683.0 million for the same period a year ago. Comparable store sales for the latest fifty-two weeks decreased (2.2%), compared to a comparable store sales increase of 0.3% reported for the same period a year ago.

Peter Harris, CEO of West Marine, said, “In our third quarter conference call, we described the significant negative impact that hurricanes and continued high fuel prices were having on sales of boating merchandise. We responded to that trend with aggressive advertising and sales promotions designed to draw customers back into our stores. These efforts produced higher than expected fourth quarter sales, although at much lower than expected margins, primarily due to deep promotional pricing and a greater proportion of sales from lower margin electronics. As a result, we now expect earnings for fiscal year 2005 to range from $0.20 to $0.25 per share.”