Brown Shoe Q3 Profit Rises, Beats View; Lifts Annual EPS Forecast

(RTTNews) - Brown Shoe Co. Inc. (BWS) Tuesday reported higher profit for the third quarter, as net sales rose year-over-year. Earnings beat analysts' view. Following the strong wholesale results in the latest quarter and with the steady performance at Famous Footwear, the company lifted its annual earnings forecast.

For the quarter, the firm's net earnings rose 21.2 percent to $33.1 million from $27.3 million last year. Earnings per share increased to $0.75 from $0.63 in the prior year.

On average, 8 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings of $0.68 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Net sales were up 3.8 percent to $729.3 million from $702.8 million a year ago. Wall Street expected revenues of $725.85 million.

The group raised its annual earnings per share forecast to a range of $1.65 to $1.69, from the previous range of $1.50 to $1.60. Net sales outlook remains unchanged and is still expected between $2.58 billion and $2.59 billion. Street currently is looking for earnings per share of $1.58, on sales of $2.58 billion.