Charges Hurt Finish Line 4Q Results

Indianapolis The Finish Line Inc. on Thursday said it swung to a fiscal fourth-quarter loss, hurt by charges related to its failed buyout bid for Genesco Inc.

Loss for the quarter ended March 1 totaled $38.8 million compared with a year-ago profit of $21.1 million last year.

Revenue fell 10% to $382.8 million from $425.7 million last year, while analysts expected revenue of $387.8 million.

Alan H. Cohen, company chairman and chief executive, said in a statement that retailers in general are facing a "challenging" environment.

"In the Finish Line stores we did not meet our sales expectations, but did drive higher product margins and ended the year with inventory down 4% on a per square foot basis," he said.

For the year, loss totaled $60.4 million compared with a year-ago profit of $32.7 million.

Revenue fell 4% to $1.28 billion from $1.33 billion last year.

The Finish Line offered to buy shoe and hat retailer Genesco in June for $1.5 billion, but then tried to get out of the deal, claiming that Genesco was not forthcoming about its financial situation. The two companies settled the dispute earlier this month, effectively ending the buyout bid.