An improvement in margins has helped New York-based specialty athletic retailer Foot Locker Inc to a second quarter.

Net income for three months to 31 July was $6m or $0.04 per share, compared with break-even performance last year.

Second quarter sales fell 0.3% to $1,096m, down from $1,099m a year ago. But excluding the effect of foreign currency fluctuations, total sales for the second quarter increased 1.3%, the company said. Comparable-store sales rose 2.5%.

“The increase in our second quarter net income was driven primarily by the strong 230 basis point improvement in our gross margin rate,” said CEO Ken Hicks.

He added: “Our significantly improved inventory position facilitated our ability to drive higher margin sales by being more selective with our promotional activity, while at the same time being more responsive to changes in consumer fashion trends.”

Merchandise inventory at the end of the quarter was $1,219m or 5.1% lower than a year earlier.

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