“Given the extraordinarily challenging conditions that our business faced during the quarter, we are pleased that our bottom line came in at the top end of the guidance range that we provided in February,” said Steven G. Miller, the Company’s Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer. “As we have reported, unfavorable record warm and dry weather conditions in our markets this year, compared to extremely favorable winter weather last year, led to very weak sales over the first seven weeks of the quarter. Over the balance of the period, generally cooler and wetter weather drove exceptional late-season winter product sales, but at a significant expense to spring-related product categories. We experienced improved trending of both sales and product margins over each month of the quarter.”
Mr. Miller continued, “Our sales and margin improvements have continued into the second quarter to date. While the first half of the second quarter is a relatively low volume period, we believe that we are well positioned for the key selling period of the quarter, which includes Memorial Day, Father’s Day and the start of the summer season.”
Quarterly Cash Dividend
The Company’s Board of Directors has declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.15 per share of outstanding common stock, which will be paid on June 15, 2018 to stockholders of record as of June 1, 2018.
Share Repurchases
During the fiscal 2018 first quarter, pursuant to its share repurchase program, the Company repurchased 75,748 shares of its common stock for a total expenditure of $0.4 million. As of April 1, 2018, the Company had $15.3 million available for future repurchases under its $25.0 million share repurchase program.
Guidance
For the fiscal 2018 second quarter, the Company expects same store sales to be in the flat to positive low single-digit range and earnings per diluted share to be in the range of $0.04 to $0.12, compared to a same store sales increase of 0.8% and earnings per diluted share of $0.13 in the second quarter of fiscal 2017.
Store Openings
During the first quarter of fiscal 2018, the Company did not open or close any stores. During the fiscal 2018 second quarter, the Company anticipates opening two stores and closing two stores, including one closure related to a relocation. For the fiscal 2018 full year, the Company currently anticipates opening approximately eight new stores and closing approximately three stores.
Conference Call Information
The Company will host a conference call and audio webcast today, May 1, 2018, at 2:00 p.m. Pacific (5:00 p.m. ET), to discuss financial results for the first quarter of fiscal 2018. To access the conference call, participants in North America should dial(800) 239-9838, and international participants should dial(323) 794-2551. Participants are encouraged to dial in to the conference call ten minutes prior to the scheduled start time. The call will also be broadcast live over the Internet and accessible through the Investor Relations section of the Company’s website atwww.big5sportinggoods.com. Visitors to the website should select the “Investor Relations” link to access the webcast. The webcast will be archived and accessible on the same website for 30 days following the call. A telephone replay will be available through May 8, 2018 by calling(844) 512-2921 to access the playback; passcode is 1550850.