Skechers Q2 Revenues Surge 37 Percent
SportsOneSource Media Posted: 7/23/2014
Skechers USA, Inc. reported second quarter 2014 net sales were $587.1 million compared to $428.2 million for the second quarter of 2013, representing a gain of 37.1 percent.
Gross profit for the second quarter of 2014 was $269.4 million or 45.9 percent of net sales compared to $194.9 million or 45.5 percent of net sales for the second quarter of last year. Earnings from operations for the second quarter of 2014 were $53.8 million compared to net earnings from operations of $17.2 million for the second quarter of 2013, representing a gain of 212.8 percent. Due to Easter falling later in Spring, the company shifted a portion of its advertising expenses to the second quarter of 2014; even with the shift, advertising expenses on a percentage basis were flat versus the second quarter of 2013.
“The strength of our new product combined with the power of our marketing and diverse distribution resulted in a 37.1 percent sales increase over last year’s second quarter and the highest quarterly revenues in the company’s 22-year history. These results followed a record first quarter, resulting in a 28.8 percent net sales increase for the first six months of 2014,” began David Weinberg, chief operating officer and chief financial officer. “The strong sales are attributable to fresh styles across our lifestyle, performance and kids’ categories, and the demand for our product resulted in a positive shift of our Back-to-School domestic wholesale and international subsidiary shipments originally scheduled for July into June. We achieved double-digit increases in our domestic wholesale business, which included a four percent increase in average price per pair; double-digit increases in our international wholesale business, with some markets up triple digits; and double-digit growth in our company-owned retail stores, which achieved a 13.9 percent comparable quarter net sales increase. We are pleased with our financial achievements in our businesses worldwide as is evidenced by our operating margin of 9.2 percent for the second quarter.”
Net earnings in the second quarter of 2014 were $34.8 million compared to net earnings of $7.1 million for the second quarter of 2013. Diluted net earnings per share in the second quarter of 2014 were 68 cents based on 50,914,000 weighted average shares outstanding compared to diluted net earnings per share of 14 cents based on 50,497,000 weighted average shares outstanding for the same period last year.
For the six months ended June 30, 2014, net sales were $1.134 billion compared to net sales of $879.9 million in the first six months of 2013. Gross profit for the first six months of 2014 was $509.8 million or 45.0 percent of net sales, compared to $387.6 million or 44.1 percent of net sales for the first six months of 2013. Earnings from operations for the first six months of 2014 were $101.9 million, compared to net earnings from operations of $32.5 million for the same period last year.
Net earnings in the first six months of 2014 were $65.8 million compared to net earnings of $13.8 million in the same period last year. Diluted net earnings per share were $1.29 based on 50,879,000 weighted average common shares outstanding compared to diluted net earnings per share of $0.27 based on 50,494,000 weighted average common shares outstanding for the first six months of 2013.
Robert Greenberg, Skechers chief executive officer, commented: “For the months of both April and June, the Princeton Retail Analysis called Skechers the ‘hottest major footwear brand,’ noting our overall sales growth in several categories including casual and walking shoes. Many of our key accounts visiting our corporate offices this month and our international distribution partners who spent four days reviewing our collections last month are echoing the same sentiment due to our multiple new product initiatives for men, women and kids. The innovations with our Spring 2014 product resulted in successes from every division, including triple digit growth in some categories. As always, we supported our extensive product offering with targeted animated, lifestyle and celebrity focused television campaigns, including a new commercial starring Joe Montana, and the continuation of our Meb spot supporting the Olympian’s incredible win at the Boston Marathon. We have expanded our team of Skechers ambassadors with the addition of sports legends Pete Rose and Joe Namath for our Relaxed Fit from Skechers line, professional golfer Matt Kuchar and Olympic runner Kara Goucher for our Skechers Performance Division, and we recently signed superstar singer and actress Demi Lovato and one of Britain’s top models Kelly Brook for our women’s lines–all of whom will appear in marketing campaigns this year and next. Looking for unique marketing opportunities, we capitalized on the fame of California Chrome by sponsoring the horse racing triple-crown hopeful, resulting in a windfall of press. We believe our marketing and footwear is resonating with consumers globally. We ended 2013 with our second highest annual sales ever, started the year with record first quarter sales, and have just achieved a new record sales quarter with growth across all our distribution channels. In addition, in the second quarter we received Best Lifestyle Brand of the Year from the Sports Trade Awards in the UK, and two product awards from Competitor magazine. Given the broad product acceptance we achieved through the first half of 2014, we believe the momentum will continue through the second half of 2014. We are looking forward to delivering the remainder of our Back-to-School footwear, and continuing to introduce new innovative product.”
Weinberg continued: “From a product, marketing and distribution standpoint, the company has never been better positioned. The record first half of 2014 along with continued increased backlogs at the end of June, incoming order rate and revenues in July leads us to believe that our record quarterly sales trend will continue for the balance of the year. Further evidence is our position in the market as reported by SportScanInfo: for the week of July 12, Skechers held the number two position in Women’s Sport footwear sold in the United States. We believe the demand for our product is universal based on our sales growth across a number of continents. With $414.8 million in cash, 40 to 50 company-owned Skechers stores planned to open later this year, in addition to the 16 that opened in the second quarter and the two that have already opened this month, and another 60 to 65 Skechers stores planned to open through our distributors and franchise partners, as well as the expansion and automation plans for our European Distribution Center, we believe we are in a great position for continued growth. We remain comfortable with the analysts’ current consensus estimates for the third quarter even though we are up against a tougher comparison and there was a pull forward of domestic and international wholesale volume from the third quarter to the second quarter of 2014.”
by Larry Eder
