Shoe Carnival Inc reported sales for the first quarter ended May 5, 2007 decreased 1.7 percent to $165.7 million from sales of $168.5 million for the first quarter ended April 29, 2006. Comparable store sales for the thirteen-week period ended May 5, 2007 decreased 3.7 percent compared to the same thirteen-week period last year ending May 6, 2006.
Commenting on sales, Mark Lemond, president and chief executive officer, stated, "While our Easter season sales were below our original expectations, our merchants have done a commendable job controlling inventory. As we entered the second quarter, inventories on a per store basis were approximately flat with last year."
The Company expects diluted earnings per share for the first quarter of fiscal 2007 to be even with or slightly below earnings per share of $0.54 for the same period last year. Included in fiscal 2007 first quarter earnings is approximately $900,000, or $0.04 per diluted share, in distribution center costs in excess of last year.
These costs are primarily related to the conversion to the new distribution center. Additionally, first quarter earnings include a reduction in income tax expense of $0.07 per diluted share for state incentives related to the investment in the new distribution center.
The Company also announced the opening of seven stores during the first quarter of fiscal 2007.
First Quarter Earnings Release:
First quarter financial results will be releasedbefore the market opens on Thursday, May 24, 2007. Later that day, at 2:00 p.m. Eastern time, the Company will host a conference call to discuss the first quarter results. The public can listen to the live webcast of the call by visiting Shoe Carnival's Investor Relations page at company's website.
While the question-and-answer session will be available to all listeners, questions from the audience will be limited to institutional analysts and investors. A replay of the webcast will be available on our website beginning approximately two hours after the conclusion of the conference call and will be archived for one year.
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