Shoe Carnival Posts In-Line Q3 Profit, Sales Beat Views

Shoe Carnival, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCVL) reported in-line earnings for the third quarter on Monday, while the company's sales exceeded analysts' estimates.The Evansville, Indiana-based company reported quarterly net earnings of $9.4 million, or $0.47 per share, compared to $10.8 million, or $0.54 per share, in the year-ago quarter.Its revenue climbed to $269.7 million from $254.7 million. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.47 per share on revenue of $264.25 million.Its comparable store sales rose 6.0 percent for the third quarter.Its gross profit margin came in unchanged at 30.1 percent for the third quarter of fiscal 2015.During the quarter, the company repurchased 429,000 shares of common stock at a total cost of $10.2 million.At the end of the quarter, per-store inventories rose 0.3 percent year-over-year.Cliff Sifford, President and CEO, said, "We experienced strong athletic and women's fashion boot sales throughout the third quarter which helped drive our fifth consecutive quarter of positive comparable store sales and on-plan earnings performance. We also benefited from our multi-channel sales initiatives which drove higher quarterly conversion rates, average sales per transaction and units per transaction."Shoe Carnival projects full-year earnings of $1.38 to $1.43 per share, on revenue of $980 million to $987 million. It also expects comparable store sales growth of around 3.0 percent. Analysts had expected earnings of $1.43 per share on revenue of $981.8 million.Shoe Carnival shares rose 1.39 percent to $19.75 in the after-hours trading session.