RadioShack Q4 Sales Rose 5% To $1.7 Billion

FORT WORTH, TEXAS — Strong sales of wireless prepaid airtime sent RadioShack's fourth-quarter revenue up 5 percent year-over-year, to $1.7 billion.

Comparable-store sales for the period, ended Dec. 31, 2005, rose 4 percent, while average ticket size increased and the number of tickets per store was flat.

“We drove strong sales in satellite radio, MP3 players, and digital imaging — three of the categories on which we focused our resources the most during the holiday season,” said president/CEO Dave Edmondson. “Sales results were higher in these low-margin non-wireless categories; however, we also experienced lower sales in high-margin categories. In addition, wireless was negatively impacted in our core stores due to our carrier transition.”

Specifically, services revenues were up 30 percent, due primarily to higher sales of prepaid wireless airtime, and sales of personal electronics were up 13 percent on higher sales of satellite radio, MP3 players and digital imaging, offset by lower sales of wellness products and radio-controlled toys.

Wireless revenue was up 6 percent due to higher sales from the kiosk channel and prepaid products, offset by significantly lower sales of Verizon Wireless. In terms of unit volume, wireless sales were higher overall but lower in the core RadioShack stores.

Sales within RadioShack's “modern home” category were down 2 percent, on lower sales of satellite TV and home audio, and power category sales were down 10 percent, due to lower sales of batteries.

Total sales were up 5 percent to $5 billion while comp sales for fiscal 2005 increased 1 percent.