NKE Nike Inc

By Kimberly Chin

Nike Inc. posted a higher profit in the fiscal first quarter on lower expenses but sales slipped as its wholesale business and Nike-owned stores were affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

The Beaverton, Ore.-based company said profit was $1.52 billion, or 95 cents a share, for the quarter ended Aug. 31, up from $1.37 billion, or 86 cents a share, a year earlier. Analysts were expecting earnings of 42 cents a share, according to a FactSet poll.

Sales were $10.59 billion, a roughly 1% decrease from a year earlier. Analysts were looking for $9.13 billion. Nike's direct sales rose 12% to $3.7 billion. Digital sales surged 82%.

"Despite a majority of stores open in the quarter, we continue to experience year-over-year declines in physical retail traffic across the marketplace due to COVID-19 impacts and safety related measures, offset partially by higher conversion rates," Nike said.

The company reduced selling and administrative expenses, demand creation expenses and operating overhead expenses compared with last year.

Write to Kimberly Chin at kimberly.chin@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 22, 2020 16:49 ET (20:49 GMT)

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