West Marine, Inc. reported that net sales for the four weeks ended November 22, 2003 were $34.5 million, a 27.7% increase from net sales of $27.0 million for the same period a year ago. Comparable store net sales for the four weeks ended November 22, 2003 increased 4.5% from the same period a year ago.
Sales from 62 BoatU.S. stores acquired in January 2003 from Boat America are included in total sales, but are not reflected in comparable store sales statistics.
Net sales for the forty-seven weeks ended November 22, 2003 were $607.3 million, an increase of 23.0% from net sales of $493.8 million for the same period a year ago. Comparable store net sales for the latest forty-seven weeks decreased 2.8% compared to the same period a year ago.
John Edmondson, CEO of West Marine, said, “We were very pleased with our November sales results. As anticipated, sales strengthened throughout the month. Sales by region were Southeast 6.3%, Northeast 4.6%, and West Coast 1.0%.
As a result, we remain comfortable with our fourth quarter guidance for sales in the range of $125 million to $130 million. Our estimate for a fourth quarter loss remains in the range of ($0.11) to ($0.09) per share, versus last year's loss of ($0.07) per share.”
