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NEWS RELEASE
CONTACT: Peter D. Brown
Vice
President, Investor Relations
and
Treasurer
Foot
Locker, Inc.
(212)
720-4254
NEW YORK, NY, March 13, 2002 –
Foot Locker, Inc. (NYSE: Z), the New York-based specialty athletic retailer,
today reported financial results for its fourth quarter and full year ended
February 2, 2002.
Adjusted net income for the
Company’s fourth quarter ended February 2, 2002, increased to $42 million, or
$0.28 per share, compared with $37 million, or $0.26 per share, last year. Last year’s fourth quarter included one
additional week in line with the National Retail Federation calendar. Excluding last year's additional week, earnings
per share increased 47 percent in 2001 from adjusted net income of $27 million,
or $0.19 per share in last year’s fourth quarter.
For the 13-week fourth quarter
periods, sales from adjusted operations were $1,155 million this year compared
with $1,135 million last year, reflecting a comparable-store increase of 2.1
percent, and adjusted operating profit increased to $89 million in 2001 from
$73 million in 2000. Last year’s
additional week contributed an incremental $65 million of sales and $16 million
of operating profit.
For the fourth quarter of 2001,
reported results from continuing operations were essentially the same as
adjusted results. For the fourth
quarter of 2000, reported sales were $1,256 million, reported operating profit
was $98 million and reported income from continuing operations was $42 million,
or $0.31 per share.
Adjusted net income for the
52-week full year period ended February 2, 2002, increased to $142 million, or
$0.98 per share, from $111 million, or $0.80 per share, in the 53-week full
year period last year. Sales from
adjusted operations rose to $4,325 million compared with $4,217 million, last
year, reflecting a comparable-store increase of 4.9 percent. Adjusted operating profit increased 13
percent to $307 million from $272 million in 2000.
Reported income from continuing
operations for the full year was $111 million, or $0.77 per share, compared
with $107 million, or $0.77 per share, last year. Reported sales from continuing operations were $4,379 million in
2001 versus $4,356 million in 2000.
Reported operating profit from continuing operations was $263 million in
2001 compared with $260 million last year.
“We are proud of our 2001
achievements, including our fourth quarter and full year financial results,”
stated Mathew D. Serra, Foot Locker Inc.’s President and Chief Executive
Officer. “I am particularly pleased
that our Company was able to continue to grow earnings in spite of what has
been an extremely challenging environment for retail businesses across the
board. In fact, the full year 2001
represents the third year in a row of significant year-over-year adjusted
earnings improvements. Several factors
contributed to our year-over-year earnings performance, including:
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·
Expanded marquee footwear and private-label apparel
offerings
·
Higher
gross margin rate reflecting improved merchandise purchasing
·
Focused
and planned promotional strategy
·
Significantly
lower SG&A rate resulting from corporate-wide expense initiatives
In addition to our earnings
improvement, 2001 was a noteworthy year for us in realizing a number of our key
ongoing strategic positioning goals: We
completed the dispositions of our non-athletic businesses, changed our name to
Foot Locker, Inc. in order to reflect our streamlined business focus, and
accelerated our real estate initiatives with 116 new store openings and 193
store remodels or relocations.”
The Company’s financial
position remains strong, with debt, net of cash, reduced to $184 million at
year-end. Additionally, the Company did
not borrow under its $190 million unsecured revolving credit facility during
its fourth fiscal quarter. Merchandise
inventories remain very current and well positioned to support 2002 sales.
During the fourth quarter, the Company opened 54 stores, remodeled/relocated 51
stores and closed 32 athletic stores.
At February 2, 2002 the Company operated 3,590 athletic stores in 14
countries in North America, Europe and Australia.
Foot Locker, Inc.’s focus in
2002 will be a continuation of those strategies that helped drive earnings per
share growth this past year and are expected to drive future top-line sales
increases.
·
Aggressive
store expansion program in Europe
·
Growth
of highly profitable direct-to-customer Internet and catalog business
·
Significant
productivity improvements at Champs Sports
·
Foot
Locker store expansion in urban United States locations
In line with these strategies,
the Company is planning three new growth initiatives in 2002 to further
differentiate its business from the competition.
·
Open 25
new Nike Jordan shops in Foot Locker and Champs Sports stores
·
Expand
Footlocker.com Internet presence to Europe
·
Open 3
new “Power Stores” in New York City
Foot Locker, Inc. and Nike are
building a stronger strategic partnership by focusing on initiatives to grow
high-end marquee footwear and apparel sales.
Most recently, an agreement was reached to open 25 Nike Jordan shops in
the Company’s more-important Foot Locker and Champs Sports urban stores. Merchandise selections will be targeted
towards the strongest selling basketball footwear and athletic apparel endorsed
by Michael Jordan. This initiative is
in line with the Company’s strategic priority of increasing the productivity of
its existing stores.
A second 2002 initiative is to
expand the Company’s Internet presence to Europe with the introduction of a new
division, Footlocker.com Europe. The
Company rapidly grew its U.S. Internet business from its introduction in 1998
to $100 million in sales in 2001 by leveraging the infrastructure of its
Eastbay catalog operation with its market-leading Foot Locker brand name. The Company sees a similar opportunity in
Europe and plans to initiate this strategy by utilizing the expertise of its
U.S. Footlocker.com management team to assist its Foot Locker Europe
operation. This initiative is expected
to complement the Company’s aggressive store expansion plans in this region.
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The third exciting initiative
is the recent negotiation of three lease agreements to open new “power stores”
in New York City. The Company plans to
open one Foot Locker and one Champs Sports store on Times Square and one Champs
Sports store on 125th Street in Manhattan. The addition of these three stores is in line with the Company’s
strategy of targeting high-trafficked urban locations for new store growth.
“Our businesses are well
positioned to continue our record of producing quarter-over-quarter profit
gains and meaningful annual earnings increases during the next several years,”
commented Mr. Serra. “Earnings improvements
over the next 12 months are expected to come from a combination of continued
productivity gains, and top-line sales growth that is expected to accelerate as
we begin to grow our store count. We
currently expect our first quarter 2002 earnings per share to approximate $0.25
to $0.27 per share, in line with current analysts’ estimates. For the full year, we continue to expect to
generate 10 percent or higher annual earnings growth, which we will continue to
update throughout the year.”
The Company is hosting a live
conference call at 10:00 am (EST) on Wednesday, March 13, 2002. This conference call may be accessed live
from the Investor Relations section of the Foot Locker, Inc. website at http://www.footlocker-inc.com. The conference call will be available for
webcast replay until 5:00 pm on Friday, March 15, 2002.
Operating profit reflects income before income
taxes, corporate expense and income, and net interest expense.
Reported results are presented in accordance
with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of
America. Adjusted results are presented
to facilitate comparison. Adjusted
results are from continuing operations and exclude the operations and
disposition of The San Francisco Music Box Company, Burger King franchises,
Afterthoughts, Foot Locker Outlets, Going to the Game, Randy River, Foot Locker
Japan and the operations of the accelerated store closings for all periods
presented. The reported results for all
operations and a reconciliation between reported and adjusted results are
attached to this press release.
This press release contains forward-looking statements, which reflect
management’s current views of future events and financial performance. These forward-looking statements are based
on many assumptions and factors detailed in the Company’s filings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission, including the effects of currency
fluctuations, customer demand, fashion trends, competitive market forces,
uncertainties related to the effect of competitive products and pricing,
customer acceptance of the Company’s merchandise mix and retail locations,
economic conditions worldwide, and the ability of the Company to execute its
business plans effectively with regard to each of its business units. Any changes in such assumptions or factors
could produce significantly different results.
The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking
statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or
otherwise.
- MORE -
FOOT LOCKER, INC.
Consolidated Statements of
Operations
(unaudited)
Periods ended February 2, 2002 and
February 3, 2001
(In millions, except per share
amounts)
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FOURTH
QUARTER |
Fourth Quarter 2001 |
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Fourth Quarter 2000 |
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Reported Results |
Disposed Operations |
As Adjusted |
|
Reported Results |
Disposed Operations |
As
Adjusted |
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|
14
Weeks |
13
Weeks* |
||||||||
|
Sales |
$
1,155 |
$ - |
$
1,155 |
|
$ 1,256 |
$ 56 |
$ 1,200 |
$
1,135 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Cost of sales |
806 |
- |
806 |
|
871 |
30 |
841 |
803 |
|
|
Selling, general and administrative expenses |
236 |
- |
236 |
|
273 |
17 |
256 |
245 |
|
|
Depreciation and amortization |
40 |
- |
40 |
|
38 |
- |
38 |
38 |
|
|
Restructuring charge (income) |
1 |
1 |
- |
|
(2) |
(2) |
- |
- |
|
|
Interest expense, net |
6 |
- |
6 |
|
6 |
- |
6 |
6 |
|
|
Other income |
(1) |
(1) |
- |
|
- |
1 |
(1) |
(1) |
|
|
|
1,088 |
- |
1,088 |
|
1,186 |
46 |
1,140 |
1,091 |
|
|
Income from continuing operations before Income
taxes |
67 |
- |
67 |
|
70 |
10 |
60 |
44 |
|
|
Income tax expense |
25 |
- |
25 |
|
28 |
5 |
23 |
17 |
|
|
Income from continuing operations |
42 |
- |
42 |
|
42 |
5 |
37 |
27 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Loss from discontinued operations, net of Income tax
benefit |
- |
- |
- |
|
(34) |
(34) |
- |
- |
|
|
Loss on disposal of discontinued operations, net of
income taxes |
(6) |
(6) |
- |
|
(296) |
(296) |
- |
- |
|
|
Net income (loss) |
$ 36 |
$ (6) |
$ 42 |
|
$
(288) |
$ (325) |
$ 37 |
$ 27 |
|
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Diluted EPS: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Income from continuing operations |
$ 0.28 |
$ - |
$ 0.28 |
|
$
0.31 |
$ 0.05 |
$ 0.26 |
$ 0.19 |
|
|
Loss from discontinued operations |
(0.04) |
(0.04) |
- |
|
(2.37) |
(2.37) |
- |
- |
|