Brown Shoe Company Q3 net sales up 1 percent

REPORT_ For the third quarter Brown Shoe Company net sales were

up 1 percent and net earnings were up 12.4 percent. Gross profit margin for the third quarter of 2013 declined 50 basis points to 39.6 percent from 40.1 percent in 2012. Consolidated gross profit was down 0.4 percent in the third quarter, and gross margin of 39.6 percent declined by approximately 50 basis points versus the prior year.

SG&A for the third quarter was 33.2 percent of net sales, which was down approximately 70 basis points from 33.9 percent of net sales in the prior year. For the quarter, operating margins improved 50 basis points to 6.4 percent. The company’s debt-to-capital ratio improved to 30.6 percent from 41.7 percent in the third quarter of 2012.

Brown Shoe Company is based in St Louis. It runs over 1,200 Famous Footwear and Naturalizer retail stores. Some of its Healthy Living brands are Naturalizer and Dr. Scholl's. Some of its Contemporary Fashion brands are Via Spiga, Vince and Sam Edelman. “Famous Footwear reported record sales in the third quarter,” said Diane Sullivan, president and Chief Executive Officer. “We also reported a 4.9 percent increase in same-store-sales for the quarter. For our wholesale business, we saw continued improvement. “