Foot Locker ended its third quarter on an upbeat note with better than expected quarterly profit and sales. Third quarter comparable store sales increased 8.7% with total sales up 3.6% to $1.794 million this year compared with sales of $1.731 million the same period the year prior.
Net income for Foot Locker’s third quarter ended Oct. 31, 2015 was $80 million, or $0.57 per share, down from $120 million, or $0.82 a share, a year earlier. This result included a $100 million pre-tax litigation charge that relates to the previously disclosed trial court decision in a lawsuit involving Foot Locker’s conversion of its pension plan in 1996. Excluding this charge, which reduced after-tax earnings by 43 cents per share, non-GAAP earnings were $1.00 per share, a 20 percent increase over the 83 cents per share the company earned in the same period last year on a comparable basis.
Foot Locker opened 30 new stores, remodeled or relocated 48 stores, and closed 16 stores in Q3. As of Oct. 31, the company operated 3,432 stores in 23 countries in North America, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. In addition, 48 franchised Foot Locker stores were operating in the Middle East and South Korea, as well as 16 franchised Runners Point stores in Germany.
“This quarter, in fact this entire year, has offered a perfect illustration of how building diversity into our business has helped us sustain record-setting growth over multiple quarters and years,” said Richard Johnson, Foot Locker president and CEO, in a press release. He added, “We have built strength across different banners and channels; we have a global footprint; we have excellent momentum in men’s, women’s, and kids’; and we have multiple legs to our product category stool, with leadership positions in basketball, running, and classic sneakers.”