Brown Shoe Company, Inc. (NYSE: BWS) today announced that its Board of
Directors authorized a stock repurchase program of up to 2.5 million
shares.
"This share repurchase authorization shows the confidence we have in our
business and long-term prospects as well as our commitment to returning
value to our shareholders," said Brown Shoe Chairman and CEO Ron Fromm.
"Over the last several weeks, we have repurchased approximately 2.4
million shares of our stock under a prior stock repurchase
authorization. We have maintained a strong balance sheet and feel
confident that this newly authorized program will allow us to pursue the
strategic initiatives aimed at doubling the sales and rate of
profitability of Brown Shoe over the next five years, while allowing us
the flexibility to pursue future transactions related to this strategy."
A portion of the repurchased shares may be used for the company's
employee benefit plans, and the balance will be available for other
general corporate purposes. The stock repurchase authorization does not
have an expiration date and the pace of repurchase activity will depend
on factors such as levels of cash generation from operations, cash
requirements for investments, repayment of debt, current stock price,
and other factors. Brown Shoe may repurchase shares from time to time on
the open market or in private transactions, including structured
transactions. The stock repurchase program may be modified or
discontinued at any time.
Safe Harbor Statement Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act
of 1995: This press release contains certain forward-looking statements
and expectations regarding the Company's future performance and the
future performance of its brands. Such statements are subject to various
risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ
materially. These include (i) the preliminary nature of estimates of the
costs and benefits of the Earnings Enhancement Plan, which are subject
to change as the Company refines these estimates over time; (ii) intense
competition within the footwear industry; (iii) rapidly changing
consumer demands and fashion trends and purchasing patterns, which may
be influenced by consumers' disposable income, which in turn can be
influenced by general economic conditions; (iv) customer concentration
and increased consolidation in the retail industry; (v) the Company's
ability to successfully implement its Earnings Enhancement Plan; (vi)
political and economic conditions or other threats to continued and
uninterrupted flow of inventory from China and Brazil, where the Company
relies heavily on third-party manufacturing facilities for a significant
amount of its inventory; (vii) the Company's ability to attract and
retain licensors and protect its intellectual property; (viii) the
Company's ability to secure leases on favorable terms; (ix) the
Company's ability to maintain relationships with current suppliers; (x)
the uncertainties of pending litigation; and (xi) the Company's ability
to successfully execute its international growth strategy. The Company's
reports to the Securities and Exchange Commission contain detailed
information relating to such factors, including, without limitation, the
information under the caption "Risk Factors" in Item 1A of the Company's
Annual Report for the year ended February 3, 2007, which information is
incorporated by reference herein. The Company does not undertake any
obligation or plan to update these forward-looking statements, even
though its situation may change.
About Brown Shoe
Brown Shoe is a $2.4 billion footwear company with global operations.
Brown Shoe's Retail division operates Famous Footwear, the 1,000-store
chain that sells brand name shoes for the family, approximately 300
specialty retail stores in the U.S. and Canada under the Naturalizer, FX
LaSalle, and Franco Sarto names, and Shoes.com, the Company's e-commerce
subsidiary. Brown Shoe, through its Wholesale divisions, owns and
markets leading footwear brands including Naturalizer, LifeStride, Via
Spiga, Nickels Soft, Connie and Buster Brown; it also markets licensed
brands including Franco Sarto, Dr. Scholl's, Etienne Aigner, and Carlos
by Carlos Santana and Barbie, Disney and Nickelodeon character footwear
for children. Brown Shoe press releases are available on the Company's
website at http://www.brownshoe.com.
http://www.brownshoe.com
