Steve Madden Q3 retail sales rise, updates earnings outlook

Steve Madden third quarter retail net sales were 61.8 million dollars compared to 56.4 million dollars in the third quarter of the prior year. Same store sales increased 1.3 percent. For fiscal year 2016, the company continues to expect that net sales will increase 0 percent to 1 percent over net sales in 2015. Diluted EPS is now expected to be in the range of 1.98 dollars to 2.03 dollars.

“We were pleased with our third quarter results, which exceeded our expectations on both the top and bottom lines. While the overall retail environment continues to be challenging and our wholesale partners remain cautious, our third quarter results enable us to narrow our guidance range for fiscal 2016 diluted EPS to the upper half of our previous range,” said Edward Rosenfeld, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.

Third quarter segment results

Net sales for the wholesale business were 346.6 million dollars compared to 357 million dollars in the third quarter of 2015. Net sales for the wholesale business included 14.9 million dollars related to the one-time Madden Girl cold-weather capsule collection that was not repeated in 2016. Gross margin in the wholesale business increased to 33.9 percent compared to 32.1 percent in last year’s third quarter driven by improvement in the wholesale footwear segment, particularly the Steve Madden women’s division.

Retail gross margin decreased to 59.9 percent compared to 60.4 percent in the third quarter of 2015 due to the negative impact of a stronger US dollar on the company’s international business.

During the third quarter, the company opened four full price stores and three outlet locations, and closed one full price store. The company ended the quarter with 186 company-operated retail locations, including four internet stores.

Picture:Steve Madden