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ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, May 8, 2003-- Brown Shoe Company, Inc. (NYSE: BWS) today announced April retail sales for its Famous Footwear and Naturalizer Retail divisions. The company also announced that it is comfortable with the current First Call consensus earnings per share estimate of $0.47, as compared to $0.43 for the year-ago period.
Retail sales at Famous Footwear, the company's chain of 913 family footwear stores, were $91,900,000 for the four-week period ended May 3, 2003, up 8.5 percent compared to $84,700,000 for the same period last year (ended May 4, 2002). Same-store sales increased 4.1 percent for the month, partially due to the Easter calendar shift from March into April.
For the first quarter of 2003, Famous Footwear sales were $261,100,000, a 2.4 percent decrease compared to the 13-week period last year. Same-store sales for the quarter were down 5.4 percent.
"Famous Footwear saw increases in gross margin dollars and purchase conversion rates for both the month and quarter," said Brown Shoe Chairman and CEO Ron Fromm. "Our same-store sales, however, were lower than planned as erratic weather trends and concerns about the economy continued to affect consumer traffic and spending. In terms of major category performance over the quarter, our women's business, driven by slides, clogs and junior-styled sandals, continued to post substantial increases. Athletics, which gradually improved over the quarter to a positive position in April, were down slightly for the three months versus last year."
Retail sales at Brown Shoe's domestic Naturalizer retail division, a 214-store chain selling the Naturalizer brand of women's footwear, were $10,900,000 in April on a store-base of 22 percent fewer stores, compared to $12,900,000 for the year-ago period. Same-store sales declined 1.3 percent for April, as the colder weather in April depressed sales of opened-up footwear, a key part of the spring Naturalizer collection.
For the first quarter of 2003, Naturalizer Retail sales were $28,800,000 versus $35,600,000 for the year-ago quarter. Same-store sales for the quarter were down 2.5 percent.
MONTH AND FIRST QUARTER SALES (millions)
 | FY 2003
(5/03/03) | FY 2002
(5/04/02) | % Change | Same-Store % Change | Stores Open
5/03/03 vs. 5/04/02 |
| April. –Famous Footwear | $91.9 | $84.7 | 8.5 | 4.1 | 913 v. 917 |
| 1st Qtr-Famous Footwear | 261.1 | 267.6 | (2.4) | (5.4) | |
| | | | | |
| April. –Naturalizer | 10.9 | 12.9 | (15.5) | (1.3) | 214 v. 274 |
| 1st Qtr-Naturalizer | 28.8 | 35.6 | (19.1) | (2.5) | |
Store Openings for the Month
· Famous Footwear opened new stores in the following markets: Citrus Heights, CA; Grainger, IN and Kennett Square, PA.
First Quarter Earnings and Conference Call
Brown Shoe will issue its first quarter earnings results on Wednesday, May 21 after market close. A conference call to discuss first quarter results will be held at 4:30 p.m. EDT that afternoon. While the question-and-answer session of the call will be limited to institutional analysts and investors, retail brokers and individual investors are invited to attend via a live web-cast to be hosted www.companyboardroom.com. At the website, type in the BWS ticker symbol to locate the broadcast.
Safe Harbor Statement Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: This press release contains certain forward-looking statements that are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. These include general economic conditions, competition, consumer apparel and footwear buying trends, and political and economic conditions in Brazil and China, which are significant footwear sourcing countries. The company's reports to the Securities and Exchange Commission contain detailed information relating to such factors.
Brown Shoe is a $1.84 billion footwear company with worldwide operations. The company operates the 900-store Famous Footwear chain, which sells brand name shoes for less. It also operates 400 Naturalizer stores in the U.S. and Canada that sell the Naturalizer brand of shoes and accessories. Brown Shoe, through its wholesale divisions, owns and markets leading footwear brands including Naturalizer, LifeStride, Connie, Buster Brown; it also markets licensed brands including Dr. Scholl's and Carlos by Carlos Santana for adults, and Barbie, Spider-Man and Bob-the-Builder character footwear for children. Brown Shoe press releases are available on the company's web site at www.brownshoe.com
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