Feb. 17--St. Paul-based outdoors retailer Gander Mountain's stock was up in midday trading after the retailer reported preliminary fourth-quarter results that include a rise in overall profit and sales boosted by the acquisition of Overton's and new direct sales efforts.

Gander expects earnings of $20 million for the fiscal fourth quarter ending Jan. 31 versus $5.8 million for the year-ago period. The company said sales rose 4.9 percent to $333 million versus $318 million for the year-ago period.

Same store sales, a key indicator of a retailer's health, were virtually flat for the quarter, which was seen as an improvement over a 6.5 percent decrease for the year-ago period. Same store sales are considered crucial because they compare only sales at stores open at least a year, factoring out bumps from adding stores.

In December 2007, Gander acquired Greenville, N.C.-based Overton's Inc., an Internet and catalog marketing company for recreational boaters. The new Gander Internet and catalog operations were launched last year during the fiscal third quarter.

In an otherwise down day on Wall Street, Gander stock rose 41 cents to $2.06 in midday trading. The company's stock's has ranged between 97 cents and $6.95 during the past 52 weeks. The company will report final fiscal fourth-quarter and year-end results next month, though no date's been specified.

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