BOSTON (AP) – Athletic footwear maker Saucony Inc. said Monday it has retained a private investment bank to help it consider strategic options including a possible sale of the company, which has recently enjoyed rising sales and profits.

A brief statement Saucony issued separately from its second-quarter earnings and a quarterly dividend announcement Monday said the company “has not determined whether to pursue any particular strategic alternative.”

Saucony said it had retained Boston-based Chestnut Services Inc. to review “various strategic alternatives that may be available to it, including a possible sale of the company.”

Saucony said it could offer no assurances that any transaction it explores will be completed. The statement offered no additional details.

Saucony referred calls for comment to Chestnut Services. A phone message left for Chestnut’s president, Al Holman, was not immediately returned.

Saucony on Monday also announced its net income increased 36 percent to $3 million in the three-month period ending July 2, or 41 cents per Class A share and 45 cents per Class B share. That compared with a profit of $2.2 million a year ago. Sales increased to $44 million from $34.5 million a year earlier.

The announcements were made after Saucony’s Class A shares closed up 17 cents at $20.58 on the NASDAQ Stock Market, with Class B shares up 2 cents at $20.30.

John Fisher, Saucony’s president and chief executive, said the financial results announced Monday mark the 11th straight quarter the company has met or exceeded earnings expectations. The company reported robust sales for three of its shoe categories and improved operating efficiency.

Saucony’s order backlog for delivery within the next five months rose 25 percent to nearly $45 million.

The company reported profits grew 62 percent to $8.5 million last fiscal year, compared with $5.2 million in 2002. Sales grew to $136 million from $133 million.

Peabody-based Saucony designs, develops and markets athletic shoes for adults under the Saucony brand name, athletic apparel under the Hind brand name and athletic and workplace shoes under the Spot-bilt name.

Its competitors include Massachusetts-based neighbors Reebok and New Balance.

The company, which has long had a strong following among serious runners, traces its roots to 1910, when Russian immigrant cobbler Abraham Hyde opened a shoe store in 1910 in Cambridge.

The company was then known as A.R. Hyde & Sons.