Cabela's hooks a strong quarter

SIDNEY, Neb. — Despite heat waves throughout the country that made leaving the indoors unbearable this summer, consumers still took the time to enjoy the great outdoors, as evidenced by the strong first-quarter results reported by Cabela's. The outdoor sporting goods retailer reported that total revenue for the first quarterincreased 7.7% to $562.1 million. For the quarter, comparable-store sales increased 4.4%.

Net income was $22.3 million compared with $19.4 million in the year ago quarter, and earnings per diluted share were 32 cents compared with 28 cents in the year ago quarter.

"We are very pleased with the improvements in virtually all elements of our areas of strategic focus," said Tommy Millner, Cabela's CEO. "These include increases in comparable-store sales, higher gross margins and record second quarter operating margins. Also, for the longer term, we are glad to see increased customer satisfaction and expanded market share. These strong results led to further increases in after-tax return on invested capital."

Millner added that he expects profitability to continue and that the company should meet or exceed its expectations for full year 2011 earnings.