DicksSporting Goods warns of Foot Locker store closures after profits fall short

Dick’s Sporting Goods on Tuesday missed estimates for third-quarter profit and warned of up to $750 million in charges tied to a sweeping review of its recently acquired Foot Locker business that includes store closures and inventory cleanup.Shares of the company fell more than 1%.The footwear retailer also forecast a sharp drop in quarterly gross margin at Foot Locker.Over the last few years, Foot Locker has lost market share as brands such as Nike expanded their direct-to-consumer business.

Falling customer visits to malls, where most of its stores are located, have also weighed on sales.Dick’s Sporting Goods bought the smaller rival for $2.4 billion in May.The company was “taking decisive actions to ‘clean out the garage’ by clearing unproductive inventory, closing underperforming stores,” Dick’s executive chairman Ed Stack said in a statement on Tuesday.Those moves, along with merger and integration costs, are expected to result in pre-tax charges in the range of $500 million to $750 million.Sign up to receive On The Money by Charlie Gasparino in your inbox every Thursday.

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Never miss a story.Excluding items, the company reported adjusted earnings per share in the quarter ended Nov.

1 of $2.07, compared with estimates of $2.71, according to data compiled by LSEG.The company expects fourth-quarter gross margin at Foot Locker to drop between 1,000 and 1,500 basis points, with pro-forma comparable sales down mid- to high-single digits as it works to clear excess stock.Still, Dick’s raised its annual sales and profit forecasts.It expects annual comparable sales to rise 3.5% to 4%, compared with its prior forecast of 2% to 3.5% growth.The company forecast annual adjusted earnings per share between $14.25 and 14.55, compared with $13.90 to $14.50 earlier....