Payless ShoeSource Cuts Earnings Estimate

Payless ShoeSource Inc., the largest U.S. shoe retailer, cut its fiscal first-quarter earnings estimate after the company missed consumers’ switch to spring fashions such as women’s colored footwear and sandals.

Profit will be $1 to $1.10 a share for the quarter ending May 4, the company said. Payless is expected to earn $1.38, the average estimate of five analysts polled by Thomson Financial/First Call. Payless earnings were $1.30 a year earlier.

Shares of Topeka, Kan.-based Payless fell $4.63 to $57.68 on the NYSE.