With respect to the outlook for the balance of the year, based on the positive year to date sales trends, coupled with projections for the business in the second half, the Company currently expects 2005 net sales to increase in the mid single digits over 2004.
With respect to expectations for earnings per diluted share, previous guidance already assumed an improvement in the second half of 2005 versus the comparable period in the prior year.
Further, the Company remains cautious about the balance of the year and continues to expect challenges related to sustained margin pressure in the wholesale and retail businesses. Taking all of these factors into account, the Company currently anticipates that full year earnings will be between approximately $0.90 and $0.93 per diluted share.
"The performance during the second quarter shows that they are making significant strides in the effort to strengthen the business and effectively combat the various challenges they are facing in the marketplace," said Jamieson Karson, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "Specifically, they are delivering on a number of the goals they communicated in the recent timeframe – they are driving top line growth, increasing gross margin, leveraging cost structure, improving inventory productivity, further building the Steve Madden brand, and enhancing shareholder value. While they believe it is prudent to remain cautious about the future, they remain focused on continuing to improve the operations and positioning the Company for long-term success."
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