Zumiez Q2 total sales grow by 20.4 percent

Zumiez announced its financial results for the second

quarter ended July 28, 2012 as well as for the first half of the fiscal 2012. For the second quarter, the company reported an increase of 20.4 percent in total sales to 135.1 million dollars from 112.2 million dollars in the quarter ended July 30, 2011. Whereas, for the six months period, total sales were reported to have grown by 21.5 percent to 265 million dollars from 218.1 million dollars for the same period last year.

Comparable store sales for the second quarter of fiscal 2012 increased 9.5 percent on top of a comparable store sales increase of 7.5 percent in the second quarter of fiscal 2011. Net income was 2.1 million dollars, or 0.07 dollars per diluted share, compared to net income of 2.6 million dollars, or 0.08 dollars per diluted share, in the second quarter of the prior fiscal year. The results for fiscal 2012 include approximately 2.5 million dollars, or 0.07 dollars per diluted share, of Blue Tomato acquisition related costs and operations.

For the six months period, comparable store sales increased 11.1 percent on top of 9.9 percent for the first six months of 2011. The company reported net income of 6.6 million dollars or 0.21 dollars per diluted share in the first six months of fiscal 2012 compared to net income for the first six months of the prior fiscal year of 4.5 million dollars or 0.14 dollars per diluted share.

At July 28, 2012, the company had cash and current marketable securities of 96.8 million dollars, compared to cash and current marketable securities of 131.9 million dollars at July 30, 2011.

Rick Brooks, Chief Executive Officer of Zumiez, stated, "The second quarter was a productive and transformational period for our company. We continued to expand our North American footprint while at the same time driving a high single digit comparable sales gain. With established leadership in North America and Europe, we are focused on leveraging our combined expertise to take full advantage of the many expansion opportunities that exist in each of our markets."

Talking about the four-week period ended August 25, 2012, total sales increased 14.1 percent to 75.2 million dollars, compared to 65.9 million dollars for the four-week period ended August 27, 2011. The company's comparable store sales increased 3.7 percent for the four-week period on top of a comparable store sales increase of 4.3 percent in the year ago period.

The company is introducing guidance for the three months ending October 27, 2012. Net sales are projected to be in the range of 181 million dollars to 185 million dollars resulting in net income per diluted share of approximately 0.42 dollars to 0.45 dollars. The company currently intends to open approximately 50 new stores in fiscal 2012, including up to 10 stores in Canada, with an opening cadence similar to fiscal 2011.