Shoe Carnival reports drop in Q2 sales, profit

US footwear retailer Shoe Carnival has reported a drop in sales and profit in the second half of the year against a strong “stimulus boosted” comparative period the prior year.

In the three months to July 30, sales came in at 312.3 million dollars, which was down 6 percent from a year earlier, but still up 16.4 percent compared to 2019 levels, prior to the pandemic.

Net income was 28.9 million dollars, down 44.2 percent from a year earlier but up 144.3 percent from 2019.

“The Shoe Carnival team delivered exceptional profitability in a challenging economic environment,” CEO and president Mark Worden said in a statement.

He noted that the company made nearly 2 dollars in earnings per share during the first half of the year, the highest in Shoe Carnival’s 44-year history, not including last year’s “stimulus boosted results”.

Looking ahead, the retailer reaffirmed its expectation of earnings per share in the range of 3.95 dollars to 4.15 dollars.

Net sales are expected to be in the range of 1.29 billion dollars and 1.34 billion dollars.