Finish Line 1Q adj. profit, revenue top Street

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- Finish Line's first-quarter net income slumped 59 percent due to costs from its big tie-up with Macy's, but it easily topped Wall Street expectations and shares jumped 4 percent in early trading.

Late last year, Finish Line cut a deal with Macy's to put its shoes in hundreds of Macy's stores, getting its brand in front of potential customers who might not otherwise shop at the retailer.

The athletic shoe and clothing company earned $5.1 million, or 10 cents per share, for the period ended June 1. That's down from $12.3 million, or 24 cents per share, a year ago.

Removing startup costs at Macy's, earnings were 20 cents per share, beating the 16-cent projection by analysts, according to a FactSet poll.

Analysts, on average, expected earnings of 16 cents per share,

Finish Line's stock rose 89 cents to $22 Friday.

Revenue for the Indianapolis company climbed 10 percent to $351.1 million, also beating beat Wall Street projections of $342.5 million.

Revenue at stores open at least a year, a key gauge of a retailer's health, increased 2.4 percent. The metric is used to exclude volatility from recently opened or closed stores.

Finish Line Inc. maintained its forecast for a mid-single-digit percentage increase in fiscal 2014 earnings from fiscal 2013 adjusted earnings of $1.47 per share. It still anticipates revenue at stores will be up slightly.

The company has 652 stores in the U.S.