US footwear group Caleres has reported record sales in both its Q4 and full-year results.

The company made net sales of 696.4 million dollars in the quarter ended January 28, up 2.5 percent from the 679.3 million dollars it made a year earlier.

Breaking it down by segment, Famous Footwear segment sales increased 0.1 percent, while Brand Portfolio segment sales rose 6.4 percent.

Direct-to-consumer (DTC) sales represented approximately 75 percent of total net sales in the period.

The group’s net earnings in the quarter widened to 40.8 million dollars from 33.9 million dollars a year earlier.

For the full year, the company posted a 6.9 percent increase in net sales to 2.97 billion dollars, with net earnings of 181.7 million dollars, up from 137 million dollars.

‘Record-setting’ 2022

Chief executive and president Jay Schmidt told investors: “Caleres closed a record-setting 2022 with another quarter of strong sales and earnings performance that exceeded initial expectations.

“Our fourth quarter results were led by our Brand Portfolio, which experienced strong growth in sales, gross margin, and earnings, and a solid performance from Famous Footwear, which continues to provide the brands, trends, and value aligned with consumer preferences.”

Looking ahead, the company now expects consolidated net sales to be flat to up 2 percent for the current year, while it expects earnings per diluted share to be in the range of 4.10 dollars to 4.30 dollars.

“This outlook balances strong momentum in our business and structural improvements in our earnings ability against anticipated headwinds that include inflationary pressures, higher interest rates, and continuing uncertainty in the macro-economic environment,” the company said.