Hibbett Provides Business Update and Adjusts Full Year Guidance

Hibbett Sports, Inc. (NASDAQ/GS: HIBB), a sporting goods retailer, today provided preliminary results for the second quarter ended August 2, 2014, and revised earnings expectations for the fiscal year ended January 31, 2015.

Preliminary Unaudited Second Quarter Results

Net sales for the 13-week period ended August 2, 2014 are expected to increase 4.2% to $194.0 million compared with $186.2 million for the 13-week period ended August 3, 2013. Comparable store sales are expected to increase 0.1% for the second quarter.

Gross profit is expected to be 33.4% of net sales for the 13-week period ended August 2, 2014, compared with 34.3% for the 13-week period ended August 3, 2013. This decline primarily results from increased markdowns related to reducing slow selling and aged inventory. Management expects that gross profit will continue to be impacted by increased markdowns in the near term, but this impact should moderate as fiscal year-end approaches. Gross profit is also expected to be impacted by store occupancy and logistics costs, as these expenses are expected to increase as a percentage of net sales due to lower than anticipated comparable store sales.

Store operating, selling and administrative expenses were in line with internal expectations, but are expected to be higher as a percentage of net sales due to lower than anticipated comparable store sales.

Based on second quarter trends for comparable store sales and gross profit, earnings per diluted share for the 13-week period ended August 2, 2014 are expected to be in the range of $0.30 to $0.32, compared with $0.40 reported for the 13-week period ended August 3, 2013. Hibbett Sports plans to report full second quarter results on August 22, 2014.

Jeff Rosenthal, President and Chief Executive Officer, stated, “A more cautious consumer led to weaker than anticipated traffic in the second quarter. Although we were disappointed with our overall comparable store sales, there was a slight improvement in July as we moved into the back to school season. As a result, we anticipate a healthier back to school shopping period. We continue to be very pleased with new store openings and new store productivity, and feel confident that new stores will continue to add meaningful revenue growth.”