Hibbett Inc (HIBB) 2012 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Hibbett Sports fourth-quarter 2012 conference call. During the presentation all participants will be in a listen only mode. Afterwards we will conduct a question-and-answer session. (Operator Instructions). As a reminder, this conference is being recorded Friday, March 9, 2012.

I would now like to turn the conference over to Mr. Mickey Newsome, Executive Chairman. Please go ahead, sir.

Thank you, Operator. With us also is our CEO Jeff Rosenthal; our Senior VP of Finance Gary Smith; our Senior VP of Merchandise and Marketing, Becky Jones; and our Senior VP of Store Operations, Cathy Pryor.

We appreciate you being on our call today, and we appreciate your interest in Hibbett Sporting Goods. But before we can start, Gary Smith will cover the Safe Harbor language.

Good morning. In order for us to take advantage of Safe Harbor rules, I would like to remind you that any projections or statements made today reflect our current views with respect to future events and our financial performance. There is no assurance that such events will occur or that any projections will be achieved.

Our actual results could differ materially from any projections due to various risk factors, which are described from time to time in our periodic reports with the SEC.

Now our President and CEO Jeff Rosenthal will speak with you.

Good morning. As you know from our press release this morning, our fourth-quarter earnings per share were up $0.59 versus $0.44 a year ago. Overall sales for the fourth quarter increased 10.1% to $190.7 million. Comparable store sales increased 7.2%.

For the quarter by month sales were up November 9.62%, December up 7.13%, and January up 4.51%. We saw a tax refund shift into February. One-third of our sales gain is coming from price and two-thirds from increased transactions or traffic.

From a real estate perspective we opened 21 new stores, expanded two high-performing stores, and closed four underperforming stores, bringing the store base to 832 stores in 26 states. For fiscal 2012 the Company opened 52 new stores, expanded 15 high-performing stores, and closed 18 underperforming stores. For fiscal 2013 the Company expects to open at least 55 to 60 new doors, expand 15 high-performing stores and close up to 18 underperforming stores.

We still have identified over 400 additional markets in our existing 26 area where we can open stores, and we can easily grow to over 1,300 stores.

We have started very strong in comparable sales through yesterday, with sales up low-double-digits on top of high-single-digits last year. We continue to improve in all areas of our business and have plenty of opportunities to get even better.

With continued investment in technology and people we are confident in the Hibbett strategy. I want to thank all of our employees for their hard work and look forward to delivering another great year.

Thank you, Jeff. Next, our Senior VP of Merchandise and Marketing will speak with you, Becky Jones.

Good morning. Fourth-quarter comp results were driven by activewear, licensed apparel, accessories, and our running and kids footwear categories.

Branded activewear achieved strong double-digit comps in all genders and sizes. We saw exceptional results with our fleece and jacket program. Under Armour, The North Face and Nike products where top performers. Men's lifestyle business was also -- did very well, led by Jordan, Levi's and adidas Originals.

The licensed apparel business posted high-single-digit comps and was bolstered by the National Championship win by the University of Alabama. Product sales of the Alabama Championship were approximately double that of the University of Auburn National Championship sales from a year ago.

We were pleased with the execution of the program by the buying office, our marketing departments, the store associates and our supplier partners. Sell-through of this product was very good and our inventories are clean going into the first quarter.

Accessories continues to grow and post high-single-digit comps. Our sock business is very healthy, with all categories experiencing double-digit growth. Nike Elite Socks were the hot item for the season. Our sunglass categories took advantage of a mild winter. Oakley and Costa continued to be the drivers.

Under Armour accessories has been very well received by the consumer. We should see sustainable growth here. Footwear posted a single-digit comp for the quarter. Kids footwear business was particularly strong. Lightweight running is the driver for all areas. Nike Free, Under Armour Micro G, Nike Dual Fusion, Reebok Zigs, adidas Originals and Retro Jordans were leading performers.

Our Lifestyle products proved challenging, however, we have seen this trend improve in the first quarter.

The equipment business was flat for the quarter. The inflatable and sports medicine business is strong and we are experiencing good baseball bat business due to the BBCOR change.

Top-performing suppliers were Nike, Under Armour, McDavid, and Easton.

Our positive comp sales trend has continued into the first quarter. All categories are performing well, and our assortments for spring are very strong in both branded apparel and footwear.

The equipment area is being led by baseball, and licensed apparel is also doing very well. Our inventory management is consistently improving. We will continue to focus on bringing premium branded product to small markets, being locally relevant, and providing superior service.

Thank you, Becky. Next our Senior VP of Finance will speak with you, Gary Smith.

Fourth-quarter sales were at $190.7 million, a 10.1% increase from the previous year. Fiscal comps were up 7.2%.

Gross profit rate increased 85 basis points. The product margin rate increased 52 basis points as age, shrinkage rates improved and we were less promotional. We had a 33 basis point improvement in occupancy and warehouse leverage.

The Company gained 93 basis points of leverage on SG&A as we saw rate improvement in salary and benefit costs, debit card fees and business insurance. Depreciation and amortization was under last year's dollars due to declining leasehold improvement for new stores.

The favorable tax rate this year was due to the exercise of incentive stock options in the prior year. Operating income as a rate to sales increased 200 basis points to 13.14%, and increased in dollars from $19.3 million to $25.1 million.

Diluted EPS came in at $0.59 versus last year's $0.44, a robust 34% improvement.

A review of some of the highlights on a year-to-date performance shows that comp store sales were up 6.8% versus last year's 9.8%; total sales up 10.2% versus last year's 12%. Gross profit was up 117 basis points versus an increase of 159 basis points in the prior year. The expense lines leveraged 54 basis points versus last year's 35 basis point improvement.

And operating income was up 171 BPs versus an increase of 223 basis points in the prior year. EPS was up 34% versus a 43% gain last year and $0.55 versus a gain of $0.48 in the prior year.

From a balance sheet perspective the Company ended the quarter with $55 million in cash versus $75 million last year, with no bank debt. Inventories increased 11.5% over the previous year, but up 7% on a per store basis.

We spent $13 million in CapEx for the year versus a $13 million budget. And for the year the Company purchased 1.9 million shares at $68.6 million. At year-end we had approximately $145 million left under the remaining purchase authorization.

Thank you, Gary. Operator, we are now ready for questions.

(Operator Instructions). Sean Naughton, Piper Jaffray.

Thanks for taking my question and congrats on a good fourth-quarter and a great start to the year. In terms of the -- just the license business, the NFL business transferring from Reebok over to Nike and New Era, how are you thinking about that particular change as it relates to your business as we go through calendar year 2012? And when do you expect those particular products to begin hitting the store?

You know, we will have a some small amount of products that will hit in April, but the biggest impact will really come in the third quarter when we set for the season, where we will be a little bit more -- put a little bit more product in all of our doors. We're going to have a light set to support the launch and be in good shape for that. But it will be the third and fourth quarter when we really see the newness really impact our assortments.

okay, that is great. And then in terms of the comp to start the year, I think there had been some -- you had been driving, I think, two-thirds transactions, one-third price. Is that still relatively similar as we start the year or have there been any changes inside of the traffic versus the ticket number?

Yes, it is about the same.

Okay, so relatively consistent. And then I guess, Gary, for you. Lastly, on the -- just on the SG&A. Obviously, a nice job in the fourth quarter, a nice leverage. Can we expect as we move through 2012 that -- you had some expenses, I think, on spending on IT last year -- is there an opportunity to potentially leverage those expenses as we go throughout 2012? And is there anything that really prevents you guys from being in the mid-20% range for SG&A on a rate to sales basis?

Yes, I think our run rates this year will improve a bit over last year, but we are still making investments in the infrastructure.

Okay, so there is still additional investment. Can you just elaborate a little bit on what those investments in the infrastructure may be?

Well, certainly, we're still on a high rate for system implementation. We expect to put in [MDO] this year and we will need people to support that. We have got labor scheduling coming up. And we have got a bunch of other initiatives when it comes to supporting the business and the inventory.

Okay, great. Well, best of luck this year. Thank you.

Sean McGowan, Needham & Company.

Hi, a couple questions for me as well. I guess to start with then two quickies for Gary. Can you talk a little bit about what you think the impact was of the tax refund -- or maybe this is for someone else? You commented that you thought that resulted in some weakness in the same-store sales in the end of January. How much of a pickup so far in the first quarter do you think as a result of that?

Yes, certainly, January was our smallest comp against our least challenging comp from the year before. We were moving at a pretty good rate going through January until we got into the third and fourth weeks. We expected it could've been 1% of comp for the total quarter that moved out of January into February.

Was it -- that happened once before, was it last year or the year before?

It happened last year.

So you are up against the same phenomenon and it happened even more?

Yes.

It shifted almost another week.

Yes (multiple speakers).

Okay, I just wanted to be clear on that. And then, Gary, again on the -- just what are your thoughts on the steadiness or cadence of the buyback at this point, and how price-sensitive is that going to be?

You know, the feeling here is our stock will be higher next year than it is now. We are in the market on a pro rata basis on a daily basis, and if there is dips in the stock, we will be aggressive to buy it back.

I think this year we bought back 5.6%. We should be -- our target initially is to be a little bit south of that number next year.

Okay, that is helpful. Thank you. And then, Cathy, are you getting more discerning in terms of store closings -- like are you raising the bar for what constitutes underperformance, and therefore seeing a pickup in the number of stores that are getting closed?

No, we don't see a pickup in the number of stores closing.

We think it will remain somewhere around 2% of the store base. But our new stores are really performing way over pro forma, and we have improved so much, we think there will be less and less store closings as a percent in the future.

Okay, all right, thank you.

Seth Sigman, Credit Suisse.

I guess, first a question on the inventory level. It looks like running slightly ahead of the sales growth on a per store basis for the second consecutive quarter. Can you just talk about how you're feeling about your inventory levels at this stage?

Our inventory levels are in the best shape they have ever been in. Our aged inventory is the best we ever had. We feel very confident on where our inventory levels are, especially going against having a great start to this year. And our sales are outpacing our inventory.

Okay, thanks. And then just a quick question on systems. Can you just help us better understand the timing of some of the system work that you're doing in fiscal 2013 and when the benefits should actually start to show up? Thanks.

MDO will start facing that in second quarter. I wouldn't expect to see any sort of financial impact for this year. We will probably see some of it next year. When it is fully rolled out, we would expect to see somewhere to a 3% to 5% improvement in gross margin dollars, but that is probably a couple of years off before you finally see that.

All right, thanks, good luck.

Dan Wewer, Raymond James.

Becky, do you think we're at the point where we are seeing the full brunt of the price increases from Nike, adidas and Under Armour?

You know, that is really difficult to know whether or not we have hit that level or not. At this point in time from a footwear perspective we see basically about the same as where they said that it would be. And again, when you are looking at $100 plus shoe, an extra $5 or $10 really is not very impactful to the business.

But in regards to whether or not we are going to continue to see price increases, we haven't had really serious conversations with the suppliers saying that there is going to be additional pressure.

No, I mean, I guess a logical question to ask is if you are seeing any pushback from your customers from the $5 to $10 price increase?

We're not. We're not. If the product looks great, and it is what they want, they will spend their money for it.

Second question I had, maybe for Mickey or Gary. In looking at the total revenue growth in the fourth quarter compared to the 7% comp sales gain -- I think some were expecting the total revenue growth to be a little bit faster -- was there any shift in the timing of new store openings in the fourth quarter perhaps later that could have accounted for that -- the revenue growth not increasing a little bit faster?

No, usually we're back-end loaded, but we opened more stores this year than we did last year in the fourth quarter.

Yes, I think the biggest difference was really the little bit of a tax shift in the last week of the month that made a difference in the fourth quarter. You know, we were on a really good pace first 2.5 weeks, three weeks and then that last week it is such a high-volume week that it shifted a little bit into February.

Okay, and then, I guess, the last question I have revolves around weather. Some of your competitors were using that as an excuse for weaker sales during the fourth quarter. How do you think it impacted [EBIT]? And given that spring has arrived early for you this year does it turn into a benefit?

You know for us, and if I understand you correctly, with weather and all that other stuff, we liquidated our fleece and outerwear as better than last year and way above the plan. I don't know if that was an excuse, but obviously getting into February the weather is probably about the same, maybe a little less rain, but I hate to use weather this time, but --

Well, good for you.

I feel like we just positioned very well from what our assortments are at this time.

Well, I have to ask Mr. Newsome one question. So what is -- how would you editorialize the Alabama customer spending twice as much as the Auburn customer?

(laughter) we expected that. That is just the way it is.

The way it is. All right, great, good luck, guys.

Sam Poser, Sterne Agee.

Can you talk a little more about the different systems? You talked about markdown optimization, you have the scheduling modules and so on. Where are you -- how much more can that really add -- I mean, as you think about the gross margin improvement over the next year or so? And what kind of gross margin improvement is in the guidance right now?

We think that is another leg on getting us to mid-teen operating margin. Certainly, when you have 800 plus stores going to 1,000 to 1,500 you need something. And as we have become to have a nationwide footprint you need something to manage the stores to the individual level. So that is just another building block to getting there.

You know, and from an investment standpoint there is so much to do. And it is always changing. Once we do MDO there's other things out there like space planning. We are also looking at -- we are also putting a time and attendance system in this year. And there will be plenty of other opportunities that we see. And we see that we will continue to invest in the systems and then make sure we leverage the ones that we have to get even better than we are today.

Thank you. And then you talked about baseball, Becky, how big -- how meaningful do you think this switchover of the baseball bats is, and how much is it helping, how much do you expect it to help the first -- how big a business is it relative? Is there a percentage this year versus last year that you expect it to grow?

You know, we're seeing a really nice increase in our baseball bat business, but the impact of baseball bats is really to the baseball category, not so much to the total.

In regards to baseball bats as an overall, it is a double-digit -- a healthy double-digit increase, but to our corporate number it is less than 0.5% that it would have impact us.

Okay, great. And then the store openings, are there opportunities for more store openings? And looking ahead do you see bigger opportunities down the road? In this 1,300 store target -- what is the timeframe of that 1,300 store target right now, I guess, would be a better question?

We expect to pick up the pace this year, and hopefully we will pick it up again next year over this year. We feel very confident that we can open more stores this year. Right now as we sit today we are ahead of last year in the number of deals that we already have done, so we feel pretty good about where we're at.

Still having some concern about new store construction. We see some Walmarts -- the old Walmarts being broken up and some of those type things, but we're finding lots of opportunities, and we feel real good about it because we're pretty far ahead of where we were last year at the same time.

And, one other thing, our last two years new stores are over-performing in their pro forma, and it gives us a lot more confidence to really go after new stores. We think we can increase it, like Jeff said.

All right, well, thank you very much and continued success.

Peter Benedict, Robert Baird.

Gary, I guess, first question for you -- maybe latest thoughts on CapEx for 2012 and 2013. I apologize if you already mentioned, I was late getting on the call. Timing of your DC investments -- that is kind of my first question.

CapEx for next year will be a little more than $15 million. We plan to start moving into the new DC two years from approximately now, which would be first, second quarter of calendar 2014, our fiscal 2015, because we need to be out of this building 12/14.

Okay, good. It is helpful. And then just on the D&A front, your D&A has been down in dollars the last three years. Does that trend continue in 2012 at a similar pace as it has been running or does that decline moderate or do we start to see that level off and grow at some point?

I would expect it to be the same as it has been the last two to three years.

Okay, good. Thanks so much.

Anthony Lebiedzinski, Sidoti & Company.

Just to follow-up on the previous question. In regards to the next distribution center, what is the expected cost of that new facility for you?

It will approximately be $25 million.

Okay, got it, okay. And could you please comment on the trends that you are seeing in real estate costs, have those changed from the last year or two?

You know, from a real estate cost standpoint we still are getting some favorable deals, and we have -- it is pretty much the same as it was last year. We haven't seen it really change that much. And we're still getting some very favorable deals and we feel pretty good about where we are with that.

Okay, thank you. And then, lastly, I may have missed this, but did you quantify what the comp sales impact was overall from Alabama winning the college football championship game?

It was about 0.5 point.

Okay, all right, thank you.

Mark Smith, Feltl and Company.

First off, can you quantify or talk about your exposure in rising fuel prices?

Approximately 10 to 15 basis points.

Okay. And then, second, tax rate going forward, Gary?

We have been under 37% the last couple of years, but I would put it at 37.25% to 37.50%.

Okay. And then, Jeff, I just wanted to make sure that I heard right. You said that you're currently running sales year-to-date up low-double-digits?

Yes.

Okay. And can you remind us last year in Q1 kind of sequentially month-to-month how the comp trends went?

Yes, we were up about 8% at this time last year. And we had a great quarter the first quarter, and so it is back-to-back, good Februarys and beginning of Marchs.

Okay. And then, lastly, Becky, can you comment just on the strong trend that we have seen in running? Without a bad pun, does this have legs -- how long can this continue?

Hard to say how long it will continue really in the total, but I would tell you that from the product that we are seeing and the product that is on the floor today the consumer really is responding well to it. And what we are seeing for the future looks as strong.

I think it is going to last at least a couple of years at minimum with the trend that is going right now from a lightweight running perspective.

You know, I agree with Becky. I think it has got some legs left on it. I am a 40-year Wave guy, and back in the 70s, running started. It was very popular all through the 70s and early 80s, and I think we are on a roll on this running thing.

Great, thank you.

Jonathon Grassi, Longbow Research.

I appreciate you guys taking my question. You talked about finding more opportunities to open stores. I guess, where are these new opportunities coming from? Are they still the Movie Gallerys and Blockbusters or is there something new out there these guys are finding space?

Well, we continue to look at all different avenues of real estate, and we see some of that still available, but there is still places we can go and put stores. So we feel really good about our strategy to go where we are needed. And we see that there is still lots and lots of opportunity.

You know, Jeff mentioned it. We're seeing some old Walmarts getting chopped up and we can get a piece of that. But we're seeing locals close and other chains closing stores too that is creating some opportunities.

But you are not changing your strategy of -- I guess, of what you are really looking at as far as (multiple speakers)?

No, not at all.

Okay. And then can you talk about your health care costs in 2012 and how that is trending?

It is amazing. Last year our health care costs were under the prior year's dollars, which has probably happened to us twice in five or six years. We plan for them to get back to a normal run rate. We saw a pickup in the last half of the year being more normalized, and we expect that to continue going forward into next year. So it may have a blip on a year-to-year, but from a dollar standpoint I don't think it will significantly affect us.

Okay, and then as far as your inventory related to the Reebok NFL apparel, is most of that cleared out or is there still some of that hanging around?

We're in pretty good shape there. We took some marks on it just to ensure we moved through it. And we actually feel very comfortable with where that inventory level is at this point.

Okay, great. And then just finally, can you just remind us the revenue distribution by month for the first quarter?

Last -- this past year?

I would say March is a five-weeker. For us on a per week basis February is probably the highest followed by March, and then April is the smallest month of the quarter. So I would say probably 40% February, 35% March or so, and the rest in April.

Okay, great. Thank you very much.

Rick Nelson, Stephens.

I would like to ask you about the operating margin, 12.8% for the year. That is a new record. How should we think about that over the near term and longer-term, given the puts and takes with the investments coming up?

Becky thinks it will go up. (laughter).

It may go up this year with 53 weeks, but when we get back to normal that is a pretty good operating margin.

So do you think it is becoming more of a topline story than an operating margin and expansion story?

We think we can do both.

Who do you see -- I know you called out the EPS impact and the extra week. What is happening in terms of topline?

Approximately $20 million.

Okay, thanks for that. Also, the inventory turn, that 2.5 times, which I think is a new record for Hibbett as well, what sort of opportunities do you see to enhance that with the systems investments?

2.75 on its way to 3. (laughter).

Oh, my word. Let me just jump in there for a second. We do see as there is opportunity to increase our turn, and it is really from our inventory management. It is all about getting down into the details of each category and really working it in that regard.

As far as what we carry on the inventory basis by door it is probably a relatively decent number at this point, but we still have opportunity within each door's assortment to make sure that we are doing the right product for the market.

So is a long-term goal to get our turns up, but it will take us a bit to get to 3.

Got you, great, thanks, and good luck.

Camilo Lyon, Canaccord Genuity.

So the quarter-to-date comp, the low-double-digit quarter-to-date comp, could you just give a little bit more color around what is driving that outside of the tax refund shift into February?

It is really coming from footwear and apparel, and even equipment we are running up. But it is -- it continues to be a lot in lightweight running from various brands like Under Armour and Nike and adidas, and so we are seeing a lot of opportunity here. And our apparel sales just continue to be extremely strong. And our accessory business continues to be very strong. So it really is happening across all of our major categories.

Every area is healthy right now as far as the performance.

It sounds great. It sounds like you're really hitting on all cylinders in that regard. I guess my question was relating to what was the tail off that happened at the end of the fourth quarter that looks like it resumes now in the first quarter. So it is it that things -- that people just decelerated their purchases of those footwear and apparel, lightweight running type of items and then re-accelerated them back into the -- as the beginning of the year started?

No, it was really just a shift in tax refunds. Our customer depends a lot on tax refunds, and we've always been very good on the 1st and 15th of every month, and tax refunds is another part of that. So that was really the difference. It really wasn't that all of a sudden they decided to buy and not buy, but it is really on the tax refunds.

Okay, would that also explain some of the deceleration in the new store productivity?

No.

No.

No, we have been performing the last two years on our new stores very good, and we are 20% above performance so we feel very good about where we are.

Okay, because it looks like the new store productivity dipped a little bit in the fourth quarter from what the current run rate had been.

Yes, we just opened 21 stores in the end of January and that is what made it look that way, but we're very happy of where our new stores are.

Got it, got it. So, okay, that would explain it.

And then, just finally, on the real estate side, what would you need to see from the perspective of being able to reaccelerate the new store openings? How could you get to increase your new store opening cadence, what would you need to see from the market?

Well, you know, we feel a lot more confident that our new stores are really performing at such a high rate. We are still going to stay very disciplined on how we do our real estate deals, so -- but we see lots of opportunity. We are a lot more confident. We are performing in areas much higher than we were before, so we feel really good about where we are today.

You know, new store account has accelerated the last three years over the previous year, and we expect it to be more again this year and next year.

So if some of the credit constraints that are holding back some of the development -- the development in the area that you're in, if those ease would that give you more confidence to increase that square footage?

Yes, absolutely.

If banks would start lending money to small-time landlords that is what would really increase the store count.

But that hasn't happened yet from what you are seeing?

Not really.

No.

Okay. Thanks again and best of luck in 2012.

Jim Chartier, Monness, Crespi, Hardt.

Thanks for taking my call. Can you just go into little detail, what do you think is driving your traffic improvement when almost every other retailer is talking about traffic declines -- even people who compete in similar categories of sporting goods?

I think part of what we are seeing from a traffic perspective is that we have done a better job from a marketing perspective. We are doing a lot more target marketing to the consumer that buy specific product. And we are ensuring that whether it is an e-mail or social from Facebook and Twitter to our direct mail, that we're very specific at the way we are going at it compared to what we used to do.

And I think that our message is a little bit more relevant than it used to be to our consumers. We talk about the branded product that we have in-house. We talk about premium product. And we're not all about the sale, we're about come see what is hot and new at our stores. And that, hopefully, is engaging the consumer.

Do you use a CRM system, and if so, have you been growing that database?

We have a loyalty program and we have over 2 million consumers that are part of that loyalty program. We do expect that to grow as we go forward. It has grown substantially in the last two years, so we expect it to grow again this year because we have a great support at the store level to ensure that the consumers understand what the benefits are of that program.

And we are working in regards to ensuring that everything that we do from the marketing perspective with the loyalty program that it has a decent ROI on it.

Thanks. And the tax refund shift, is that just from one week to the next or is that spread out over a few weeks?

It is probably spread out over a few weeks. We're still seeing some tax refunds -- usually on Wednesdays they have been coming out and we see definitely a lift in sales the day they come out.

Great, thank you.

Chris Rapalje, SunTrust Robinson Humphrey.

I just had a question about the strength you have seen so far in the quarter, and was wondering if you thought there was any risks there that some of that could be pulled forward demand, given how warm it has been?

You know -- let me speak to that. The weather in February has been almost exactly the same as last year in terms of the average high and the average low. Now the weather in the fourth quarter this year versus last year was about that six degrees on average higher on the high and the low. So the weather this year this year as far as the high and low is about the same as last year in February.

Okay. And then just with the new store opening plan, is that targeted to stay in your current 26 state footprint, and do you see any opportunity to go into new states in the foreseeable future?

Primarily we will be in the 26 states. We are looking out a little bit in a few states, but we stay tied geographically and try to stay within a two-hour drive distance. So there may be a state or two added this year, but generally our growth is going to be in the 26 states that we operate today.

Yes, for instance, Alabama is our most stored state relative to the population, and I could name you another 10 stores we could put in Alabama. So we have a lot of growth in our 26 state area to go.

All right, well, thanks very much.

Chris Svezia, Susquehanna Financial Group.

Just some color on your low- to mid-single-digit comp forecast for the year. Any thoughts by category? Maybe would apparel grow a little bit faster given what is going on with the NFL, or any thoughts about that by category?

I guess, you know, what we are looking at I would think footwear and apparel have the same opportunity to grow. And equipment will grow, but not at the same rate.

Okay. And then on the -- in the quarter the accessory business was pretty strong. How much of that was driven by order replenishment? If you take the -- I guess, the -- yes, how much was that driven by the overall replenishment piece or you are just seeing just an uptick in demand for key product?

Our replenishment business continues to be relatively steady with the way that it contributes quarter after quarter to the total in accessories and across the board. I would tell you that the socks business in particular has shown a lot of strength in the last few months. And the Nike Elite Sock is a phenomenon that has really driven the business.

But on top of that we have got good branded socks, and that consumer is just responding to it, so we do have a strong replenishment program. As far as a percent to the total business, I'm not prepared to give that number out. But it is not a big change from where it has been. I think it is more about what is hot right now.

Okay, all right, fair enough. And, Becky, just on the casual footwear business, what are you seeing there? What changes you are making? I am just kind of curious what is going on there for you guys.

As in -- casual as in sandals or (multiple speakers).

I think you made a reference to the casual footwear business was soft, but you started to see some improvement.

Lifestyle, our Lifestyle business. Yes, I am with you now. It was soft in the fourth quarter, and we did see a pullback on that particular consumer. I am not really sure, other than some of the product that was out there I think maybe was a little bit too wide in distribution, and there has been some corrections to the marketplace in that respect to where they are pulling back on it.

But more importantly, we have seen some fresh product come to the floor, especially for January, February sales. And with that came a lot of better color, and the customers started responding to that again. So the shift from what we -- where it was in the back half of the year, we are seeing some renewed interest from a consumer perspective now that there is a little bit of freshness from a color perspective.

Okay. And Gary, for you gross margins for the year based on your comp forecast, I mean, can we basically think about that being up 30 to 50 basis points, is that a fair range?

I think 25 plus.

25 plus. And SG&A you still expect to get some leverage roughly equivalent, 10, 20 basis points?

If you throw D&A in there, yes.

Okay. And then lastly, Gary, for you, what are you going to be doing on June 2?

Sleeping in. (laughter).

All right, well, --.

He is the best fisherman at Hibbett's.

Well, enjoy and all the best to you.

Sean McGowan, Needham & Co.

Thank you. I just wanted to circle back on a couple of things just to make sure I'm understanding correctly. Overall would you say that the unusual weather in the fourth quarter was significant positive or significant negative?

None of the above.

I don't think it affected us that much because of the kind of product mix that we carry.

We are primarily in the Sun Belt and it probably didn't affect us that much.

So some puts, some takes, some categories better, some worse?

Not really.

Not really. We had a great season in fleece and jackets. We carry lightweight jackets for the most part. We are not very much into a heavy outerwear business because we don't need to be because of our geographical concentration. But the lightweight business was really good with The North Face. And our fleece business was very good as well. Nike and Under Armour did a great job this year and we had really good sell-through.

Okay, good. Thanks for clarifying. And then you may have touched on this before, but I don't know if you got detailed on it. The cadence of store openings this year versus last year, did you say -- were you about the same?

I would say it would be very similar.

Similar, okay. Thank you very much. Good luck.

Mr. Newsome, I will now turn the call back over to you for closing remarks.

Okay, thank you, Operator. In summary, I will remind everybody fiscal 2012 was our greatest year in the history of the Company on top of 2011, which is now our second-greatest year ever. Fiscal 2012 earnings per share increased 34% over fiscal 2011. Fiscal 2011 earnings per share increased 43% over fiscal 2010.

We're off to a great start this year, the first 39 days. our comp store sales are up low-double-digits, going against pretty strong sales the last two years.

I believe we will have another great year in Hibbett. Now why do I believe that? Number one, we are improved as a company internally. Our people are better; our systems are unbelievably better. We are getting the right merchandise in the right stores and keeping it in stock based on customer wants and needs. And we're a full customer service, which we are very proud of.

The last two years new stores are outperforming their pro forma by more than 20%. This gives us a lot more confidence to accelerate our store growth this year and in future years. We can have 1,300 stores in a 26 state area, but the model works in all states.

Thanks for being on the call today. And we look forward to speaking with you on May 18 at 9 o'clock Central Standard Time with our first-quarter results. Thank you.

Ladies and gentlemen, that does conclude the conference call for today. We thank you for your participation and ask that you please disconnect your lines.