Shoe Carnival Profit Meets Estimates; Outlook Weak

(RTTNews) - Footwear retailer Shoe Carnival Inc. (SCVL) Thursday reported second-quarter net income of $6 million or $0.29 per share, compared with $3 million or $0.14 per share last year.

Sales for the quarter were $216.4 million, up nearly 18 percent from $182 million in the prior year.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters estimated earnings of $0.29 per share on sales of $219.16 million for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

On a same-store basis, sales for the quarter were up 2.6 percent.

Gross margin for the quarter climbed to 28.9 percent from 28.7 percent a year ago.

Looking ahead to the third quarter, Shoe Carnival expects earnings of $0.51 to $0.55 per share on sales of $236 million to $240 million. Analysts expect earnings of $0.58 per share on sales of $241.45 million.

The company expects same-store sales for the quarter in the range of 1 to 2.5 percent.

Shoe Carnival expects to open 32 new stores and close five stores in fiscal 2013. As of August 29, the company operated 370 stores.

The company's stock closed Thursday at $26.30, down $0.04 or 0.15%, on a volume of 180 thousand shares on the Nasdaq. In after hours, the stock dropped $0.10 or 0.38%.