Edward Rosenfeld, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, commented: “The second quarter proved difficult for Steve Madden, as we continued to face a challenging retail environment, weak mall traffic, and a women’s footwear market with few significant fashion trends. In our wholesale segment, our branded footwear business grew sales in the mid-single digits range, led by our Steve Madden Men’s, Steve Madden Women’s, and Steven lines, while our private label footwear business experienced a sales decrease (…)  We also had a strong sales gain in our wholesale accessories business, driven primarily by growth in private label accessories. On the retail side, the absence of fashion drivers and continued weak traffic negatively impacted our full-price stores, while our outlet stores had a modest comparable store sales increase. Finally, we saw solid gains in our international business during the quarter. While we are confident that the long-term growth prospects for our Company remain strong, based on current trends we are lowering our guidance for the full year. This is due primarily to a reduction in our forecast for the wholesale accessories segment due to pressure on our branded handbag business. We will continue to carefully manage our inventory and control costs as we work through this tough environment.”

Net sales for the quarter declined slightly (-0.6%) and reached 295.7 million US dollars compared to 297.6 million US dollars in the same period of 2013. Gross margin was 36.2% as compared to 37.2% in the same period last year due to increased promotional activity in the retail and wholesale segments. Net income for the period was down by 3.3% and reached 28.0 million US dollars (0.44 US dollars per diluted share) compared to 29.5 million US dollars (0.43 US dollars per diluted share) in the previous year's second quarter.

Net sales from the wholesale business were 249.8 million US dollars in the second quarter compared to 251.4 million US dollars in 2013, which includes “a solid gain in the branded footwear business and strong growth in wholesale accessories, offset by a decrease in private label footwear”.

Retail net sales were 45.9 million US dollars compared to 46.2 million US dollars in the second quarter of the previous year. The decrease in net sales was attributed to a same store sales decrease of 8.5% partially offset by an increase in net sales resulting from the net opening of 11 new stores since the end of the second quarter last year. Increased promotional activity resulted in retail gross margin of 62.8% in the second quarter of 2014 compared to 64.7% in the second quarter of 2013.

During the second quarter, the company opened four outlet stores and closed two full-price stores and one Internet store, ending the quarter with 124 company-operated retail locations, including 24 outlets and three Internet stores.

Based on second quarter results and updated expectation for the second half of the year, for fiscal year 2014, the company now expects that net sales will increase 2% to 4% over net sales in 2013.

Company shares were last traded at 32.47 US dollars at NASDAQ on the 6th of August 2014.

For more information about Steve Madden Ltd please visit the company's website.