Summary of Finish Line's 3Q14 Earnings Teleconference Call

Finish Line Inc. FINL held their third quarter 2014 earnings teleconference call Friday morning.

Sam Sato, President of Finish commented, “On our second quarter call, we said that we've expected Running trends to improve, basketball to remain strong, and soft goods to show positive progress. We are pleased that each one of these played out as expected, especially in what has been a choppy macro environment. For the quarter, footwear sales on a comparable basis increased high-single digits. Men's goes up high singles, women's up mid-singles, and kids was up low double digits.”

Highlights of the Third Quarter:

• Finish Line's consolidated net sales increased 22.9% to $364.5 million compared with the third quarter from last year.
• Comparable store sales increased 7.1%.
• Inventory was up 19.5% on a consolidated basis.
• Finish Line added 48 Finish Line branded shops within Macy' for a total of 181 shops in Macy's stores as of November 30.
• GAAP EPS were reported at $0.05. Non-GAAP EPS, excluding the impairment charges impact, were $0.06.
• The company repurchased 200,000 shares ($5.2 million) of its common stock in the third quarter.
• Chairman and CEO Glenn Lyon reported that “25% of the visitors to finishline.com are researching product to buy offline. This is led to a spike in store locator mobile traffic, especially on weekends. These figures are even more pronounced within members of our Winners Circle loyalty program, where 87% are more likely to go in-store to purchase after receiving e-mail than they are to purchase online.
• Sato noted that Basketball was a strong category with comps up in the high-teens. The President noted, “Our basketball business continues to benefit from strong demand especially for
  both Nike and Jordan products.”
• Glenn Lyon reported that Finish Line branded shops are now in 181 Macy's locations.
• The company acquired Running Spot, Boulder Running, Run On, and Running Spot, “strengthening” Finish Line's reputation in running.

Additional Executive Comments:

• Lyon commented, “Our total performance is being fueled by effective digital initiatives that create increasingly more personalize consumer engagements through desktop computers, mobile phones, tablets, and social media.”
• Glenn Lyon added, “Our commitment to investing in our people, systems, and channels is strengthening our brand partnerships, and in turn, providing our consumers with a plethora of choices from a product standpoint to how we choose to interact with our brand, as well as initiate and complete transactions.”