Shoe Carnival’s second quarter ended August 1, 2015 with positive results: net sales increased $5.7 million to $227.8 million, a 2.6% percent increase compared to $222.1 million in the second quarter of 2014.
Comparable store sales increased 0.5%, and earnings per diluted share increased 84.6% to $0.24, compared to $0.13 in the second quarter of 2014.
Company expenses for the second quarter of 2015 increased $0.4 million to $58.4 million. As a percentage of net sales, these expenses decreased to 25.6% compared to 26.1% in the second quarter of 2014.
Shoe Carnival recently hosted a major grand opening event in Philadelphia, the company’s latest large market. They will open two small market stores in the Midwest in the second half of fiscal 2015.
Cliff Sifford, president and CEO, stated, “Our strong quarterly earnings were driven by a combination of higher merchandise margins and lower advertising expenses. Comparable store sales were in-line with our expectations as the solid start to the quarter was muted by an anticipated shift in tax-free holidays to the third quarter of this year from the second quarter of fiscal 2014.”
Net sales during the first six months of fiscal 2015 increased $22.8 million to $480.6 million as compared to the same period last year. Comparable store sales for the same period, ended August 1, 2015, increased 1.8%.
The company continues to expect fiscal 2015 net sales to be in the range of $977 million to $991 million, with a comparable store sales increase in the range of 1.5% to 3 percent. Earnings per diluted share for the fiscal year are expected to be in the range of $1.42 to $1.48.