Hibbett Sports (HIBB) has reported 25.07 percent fall in profit for the quarter ended Apr. 29, 2017. The company has earned $20.91 million, or $0.97 a share in the quarter, compared with $27.91 million, or $1.22 a share for the same period last year.     

Revenue during the quarter went down marginally by 2.27 percent to $275.69 million from $282.09 million in the previous year period. Gross margin for the quarter contracted 160 basis points over the previous year period to 35.63 percent. Total expenses were 87.61 percent of quarterly revenues, up from 84.28 percent for the same period last year. That has resulted in a contraction of 333 basis points in operating margin to 12.39 percent.

Operating income for the quarter was $34.17 million, compared with $44.34 million in the previous year period.

Jeff Rosenthal, president and chief executive officer, stated, "After a double-digit decline in comparable store sales in February, trends improved in March and April with comparable store sales in the positive low to mid-single-digit range. However, the sales shortfall in February was not fully offset, which led to a 4.9% decline in comparable store sales for the quarter. Footwear continued to perform well with comparable store sales in the positive low single-digit range, but apparel and equipment posted negative comparable store sales. Gross margin was also negatively affected due to markdowns taken to manage inventory, although this enabled us to reduce inventory to levels below last year. Given the softer sales environment, we were able to keep tight controls on expenses, which helped overall profitability.

For financial year 2018, the company forecasts diluted earnings per share to be in the range of $2.35 to $2.55.