West Marine net sales for the four weeks ended February 28, 2004 were $35.5 million, a 14.0% increase from net
sales of $31.1 million for the four week period a year ago. Comparable store net sales for February increased 13.8% compared to 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 until March 2004.
Net sales for the eight weeks ended February 28, 2004 were $66.8
million, an increase of 20.3% from net sales of $55.6 million for the
same period a year ago. Comparable store net sales for the latest
eight weeks increased 14.5% compared to the same period a year ago.
John Edmondson, CEO of West Marine, said, “We are very pleased
with our February results. West Marine has now posted eight
consecutive months of positive comparable store sales.
“Looking to March, we currently expect comparable store sales to
be in the mid- to upper- single digit range for the month, and in the
upper-single to lower-double digit range for the quarter. However,
since March is the most important month of the quarter, we want to
gauge how the sales mix unfolds over the next couple of weeks before
we further advise regarding our first quarter financial results. For
now, we are comfortable with our prior guidance for the first quarter
of a loss per share ranging from ($0.19) to ($0.17).
“Electronics sales were strong in February, increasing by 18.8%
over last year in our comparable sales stores. Comparable store sales
by region for February 2004 were as follows: Northeast 50.8%,
Southeast 4.4% and West Coast 6.6%. Sales improved in the Northeast
generally due to better weather this year and specifically due to the
closure of 85 stores for several days last year during inclement
weather.”
