Big 5 Earnings Fall 7.8% on One-Time Charges

Big 5 Sporting Goods Corp. said first-quarter net income fell 7.8%, hurt by one-time charges, but still came in ahead of Wall Street’s outlook.

Net income fell to $5.9 million, or 26 cents a share, from $6.4 million, or 28 cents, a year earlier. Sales rose 9% to $207.2 million.

Analysts, on average, expected earnings of 18 cents a share on revenue of $202.6 million, according to a Thomson Financial survey.

Shares of El Segundo-based Big 5 shot up $1.12 to $21.50 in after-hours trading, after closing up 94 cents at $20.38.

Same-store sales -- or sales at stores open at least a year -- rose 5.3%. That marks the strongest same-store sales performance over the last 16 quarters, the company said.

The company also said its board had authorized a buyback of as much as $15 million in shares and an increase in the cash dividend to an annual rate of 36 cents a share from 28 cents. The board declared a quarterly cash dividend of 9 cents a share to be paid June 15 to stockholders of record as of June 1.

Big 5 said it expected second-quarter same-store sales growth in the low to mid-single digits, and per-share earnings of 23 cents to 27 cents. Analysts expect earnings of 30 cents a share.

For 2006, Big 5 expects same-store sales growth in the low to mid-single digits, and per-share earnings of $1.23 to $1.33. Wall Street expects per-share earnings of $1.29.

Big 5 opened two stores during the first quarter, bringing its store count to 326. It anticipates opening three stores during the second quarter and a total of about 20 stores during 2006.