​Steve Madden posts another quarter of solid progress

By

Robin Driver

Published
Oct 31, 2018

American fashion footwear company Steve Madden reported its financial results for the third quarter of 2018 on Tuesday, announcing continued progress across its business, with particular headway made in its retail segment.
 

The company reported net sales of $458.5 million, up 3.9% compared to $441.2 million in the prior-year period.

Sales in Steve Madden’s retail segment rose 8.8% to $69.9 million, compared to $64.3 million in the same period in the previous year. Same-store sales increased 5.5%, with solid progress seen in the company’s brick-and-mortar channel and strong advances reported in e-commerce.

Wholesale revenues rose 3.1% to $388.5 million, reflecting an increase in wholesale accessories sales, partially offset by a modest decline in footwear due to the transition of one of the company’s private-label customers from the wholesale model to the buying agency model.
 
Thanks to these improvements across its business, Steve Madden’s third-quarter net income came to $55.6 million, up from the $44.2 million reported in the prior-year period.
 
“We are pleased with our performance in the third quarter, which included strong financial results as well as progress on a number of our key strategic initiatives,” said Edward Rosenfeld, chairman and CEO of Steve Madden, in a release.
 
“In addition to robust growth in our core Steve Madden Women’s wholesale business, we saw strong gains in international markets, outstanding performance in Blondo and a significant acceleration in our e-commerce business.  The momentum in these areas – combined with the power of our brands and the strength of our business model – bolsters our confidence that we can continue to deliver long-term growth and value creation going forward,” he added.
 
In line with its positive results, the company has updated its full-year outlook for fiscal 2018, and now expects net sales to increase between 6% and 7% – at the high end of the previously reported range of 5% to 7%. Earnings per share are now predicted to be in the range of $1.70 to $1.72, narrowed to the upper end of the company’s previous outlook of between $1.67 and $1.72.
 
At the end of the third quarter, Steve Madden had 210 company-operated retail locations, including 7 e-commerce stores and 46 international concessions.