Zale Annual Revenues at $2.304 Billion

Zale, North America's largest specialty retailer of fine jewelry, revealed today that fourth quarter comparable store sales increased 2.1% with quarterly revenues of $456 million compared to last year's revenues of $442 million, an increase of 3.2%.

For the fiscal year, total revenues increased 4.2% to $2.304 billion, compared to $2.212 billion for the prior fiscal year. On a comparable store basis, sales increased 3.9% for the year.

“These sales results met our expectations for the fourth quarter and have us well-positioned as we enter our new fiscal year,” commented Mary L. Forte, President and CEO.

“During the course of the year, we continued to fine-tune our merchandise assortments, strengthened our clientele development efforts and made operational adjustments to improve our in-stock positions, all of which had a positive impact on our sales performance.”

The company further commented that it was comfortable with the current consensus earnings estimate of $0.13 per share for its fourth fiscal quarter.

In separate news, the company announced that its board of directors has approved a stock repurchase program of up to $50 million of Zale common stock on the open market. The company is doing so for the eighth consecutive year.

"This decision demonstrates our continued confidence in the underlying strength of the business as we execute our strategic plan," commented Forte. "Our commitment remains to make investments that create the most value for our shareholders.”

Zale Corporation will announce its fourth quarter and fiscal year 2004 earnings results at the end of the month.