Sporting Goods Retailer Makes Profit in Q4

Sport Chalet made fourth-quarter profit for the first time in years, with revenues largely boosted by an additional week in quarter. For the quarter that ended April 3, the La Canada-based retailer had net income of $0.3 million, or $0.02 per diluted share, on revenues of $98.2 million. For the same period a year ago, the company had a net loss of $0.3 million, or $0.02 per diluted share, on revenues of $90.2 million. The 8.9-percent revenue increase was primarily due to the extra week in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2011, which contributed $5.9 million to sales. Without the extra week, the company’s fourth quarter sales increased by 2.4 percent. Sport Chalet CEO and Chairman Craig Levra said the period quarter marked the company’s first profitable quarter in the previous 13 quarters. “We were able to continue the growth of our Team Sales and online divisions, increase our comparable store sales and more importantly, return to profitability,” Levra said. For the fiscal year of 2011, the company reduced its net loss to $3 million, or $0.21 per diluted share, on revenues of $362.5 million. For the previous fiscal year, the company had a net loss of $8.3 million, or $0.59 per diluted share, on revenues of $353.7 million. The 2.5-percent revenue increase was also primarily due to the additional week in the fourth quarter. Without that extra week, fiscal year revenues went up by 0.8 percent. Levra said the company increased its store staff and customer service during the fiscal year to allow sales associates to focus on the company’s expanding specialty brand offerings. “For fiscal 2012, we continue to micro-merchandize utilizing Action Pass data, improve the functionality of sportchalet.com, and refine our store strategy,” he said. “These steps combined with our improving operating performance position us for future growth.” Jessica Vernabe