Finish Line Swings to Profit Amid Merger

The Finish Line has lowered its outlook for the fiscal year

Indianapolis-based The Finish Line Inc. (Nasdaq: FINL) is reporting fiscal full-year net income of $14.4 million, compared to a net loss of $18.2 million the previous year. The results come just days after the company announced it was being acquired by United Kingdom-based JD Sports Fashion Plc in a nearly $560 million deal.

The Finish Line is also reporting fiscal fourth quarter net income of $16.3 million, compared to a net loss of $9.5 million during the same period in 2017. The company says it ended the year with no interest-bearing debt.

"While we anticipated that our business would be under pressure during the fourth quarter due to a difficult selling environment for athletic footwear, sales ended up being down more than we forecasted," said Sam Sato, chief executive officer of Finish Line. "Despite the top-line headwinds, we worked hard on tightly controlling costs and managing inventories to deliver adjusted earnings per share for the fourth quarter at the high-end of our most recent guidance range."

The merger with JD still requires shareholder and regulatory approvals. The Finish Line says the deal is expected to close no earlier than June of this year. 

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