Big 5 Sporting Goods more optimistic on 3Q profit

Big 5 Sporting Goods more upbeat about 3rd-quarter profit, partially on climbing sales

• On 6:36 am EDT, Tuesday September 29, 2009

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (AP) -- Big 5 Sporting Goods Corp. was more optimistic about its third-quarter earnings results Tuesday, citing expense control efforts, improving merchandise margins and rising sales.

The sporting goods retailer now anticipates net income at or near the upper end of its 27 cents to 34 cents per share guidance.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters, whose estimates typically exclude one-time items, predict third-quarter profit of 31 cents per share.

Big 5 also said sales at stores open at least a year, known as same-store sales, grew 1.6 percent in the quarter.

Same-store sales are a key indicator of retailer performance since they measure growth at existing stores rather than newly opened ones.

The company will report third-quarter results and give its fourth-quarter outlook during the first week of November.