Big 5 Sports (BGFV) reports prelim Q4 sales below consensus

Big 5 Sports reports prelim Q4 sales below consensus and same store sales -9.4%  

• Following same store sales declines in the low mid-single-digit range for October and the low single-digit range for November, which included positive same store sales over the Black Friday weekend, same store sales declined in the low double-digit range in December as extraordinarily dry and warm weather conditions in most of the Company's major markets had a significant negative effect on sales of cold weather and snow-related products.
• Q4 net sales were $243.2 million vs $263 mln Cap IQ consensus; now expects to realize a loss per share in the range of $0.08 to $0.13, which excludes charges related to tax legislation and asset impairment related to a small number of stores (may not compare to $0.24 estimate).
• The merchandise margins decreased approximately 130 basis points for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2017 from the fourth quarter of fiscal 2016, when merchandise margins increased 68 basis points over the prior year. The decline in merchandise margins primarily reflected the sales mix shift away from higher margin winter product categories, promotional efforts to drive traffic and sales and comping against favorable opportunistic buys during the prior year period.