(Corrects stock move in paragraph 2 to 3% from 6% in early trading, not premarket; also corrects margin forecast drop in paragraph 8 to a range of 1,000 to 1,500 basis points, not 1,500 basis points from 2,500 a year earlier) (Reuters) -Dick's Sporting Goods on Tuesday missed estimates for third-quarter profit and warned of up to $750 million in charges tied to a sweeping review of its recently acquired Foot Locker business that includes store closures and inventory cleanup. Shares of the company fell nearly 3% in early trading. The footwear retailer also forecast a sharp drop in quarterly gross margin at Foot Locker. Over the last few years, Foot Locker has lost market share as brands such as Nike expanded their direct-to-consumer business. Falling customer visits to malls, where most of its stores are located, have also weighed on sales. Dick's Sporting Goods bought the smaller rival for $2.4 billion in May. The company was "taking decisive actions to 'clean out the garage' by clearing unproductive inventory, closing underperforming stores," Dick's executive chairman Ed Stack said in a statement on Tuesday. Those moves, along with merger and integration costs, are expected to result in pre-tax charges in the range of $500 million to $750 million. Excluding items, the company reported adjusted earnings per share in the quarter ended November 1 of $2.07, compared with estimates of $2.71, according to data compiled by LSEG. The company expects fourth-quarter gross margin at Foot Locker to drop between 1,000 and 1,500 basis points, with pro-forma comparable sales down mid- to high-single digits as it works to clear excess stock. Still, Dick's raised itsĀ annual sales and profit forecasts. It expects annual comparable sales to rise 3.5% to 4%, compared with its prior forecast of 2% to 3.5% growth. The company forecast annual adjusted earnings per share between $14.25 and 14.55, compared with $13.90 to $14.50 earlier. (Reporting by Sanskriti Shekhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Sahal Muhammed)
(The article has been published through a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has been published verbatim. Liability lies with original publisher.)
