Collective Brands, Inc. (PSS), a retailer of footwear and related accessories, Wednesday announced second-quarter financial results, reporting a profit that doubled from the same quarter a year ago, primarily reflecting an improvement in gross margin as well as a decline in expenses.
Quarterly earnings attributable to the company increased to $18.7 million or $0.29 per share from $8.1 million or $0.13 per share in the same quarter last year.
On average, six analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to earn $0.33 per share for the second quarter. Analysts' estimate typically excludes special items.
Net sales for the second quarter declined to $836.3 million from $911.7 million in the corresponding quarter last year, primarily reflecting a decline in comparable store sales as well as the impact of the expiration of adult footwear license of the Tommy Hilfiger brand, and foreign currency transactions.
The Street anticipated revenues of $842.72 million for the second quarter.
Comparable store sales for Payless Domestic brand were down 6.0%, while comparable store sales for Stride Rite dropped 2.7%. Collective Brands recorded 7.3% drop in comparable store sales, reflecting the impact of Payless International and foreign currency exchange rates. Excluding the unfavorable impact of foreign currency, comparable store sales dropped 6.2%.
Gross margin for the quarter improved to 33% from 31% in the same quarter last year, primarily due to the absence of the litigation expense present last year, higher initial mark-on, and increased direct sourcing of product through vertically-integrated sourcing organization. Quarterly results were also positively impacted by a decline in selling, general and administrative expenses to $243.4 million from $259.2 million in the same quarter a year ago.
For the six-month period, net earnings attributable to the company increased to $56.7 million or $0.89 per share from $27.8 million or $0.43 per share in the same quarter a year ago. Net sales for the period dropped to $1.70 billion from $1.84 billion in the same quarter last year.
PSS closed Wednesday's trading at $15.77, down $0.01 or 0.06%, on a volume of 1.638 million shares on the NYSE. In the after hours, the stock dropped $0.02 or 0.13% to trade at $15.76
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