Finlay Posts Small Q4 Profits Rise

U.S. jeweler Finlay's reported net income of $28.1 million for the fourth quarter ending January 29 compared to $26.8 million a year earlier. The company reported full year net income of $16 million.

Sales in the quarter were $380.6 million compared to $379.0 million in the same period a year ago. Comparable department sales for the fourth quarter rose by 1.6 percent.

For fiscal 2004, Finlay's net income was $16 million. This includes a pre-tax charge of $9.1 million related to early debt pay-off costs. Excluding these items, fiscal 2004 net income was $20.8 million, compared to income from continuing operations of $19.9 million in the prior year.

Finlay Chairman and CEO, Arthur E. Reiner, commented: “Our consistent top line growth combined with our focus on expense management resulted in our third consecutive year of bottom line growth. In 2004, we also completed our refinancing, which resulted in both lower long-term debt and interest rates.”