Rocky Brands, a leading designer, manufacturer, and marketer of premium quality footwear and apparel, has reported a 2.2 per cent increase in net sales to $112.9 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2024 (Q1 FY24), up from $110.4 million in the same period last year. Despite a slight decrease in wholesale sales from $80.1 million to $79.8 million, retail sales rose by 3 per cent to $30.4 million, compared to $29.5 million in the first quarter of FY23. The company also saw a dramatic increase in contract manufacturing sales, which includes military contracts and private label programmes, from $0.9 million to $2.7 million.

Gross margin for the quarter was $44.1 million, or 39.1 per cent of net sales, slightly down from 39.6 per cent in the prior year. Operating expenses decreased notably to $36.2 million, or 32 per cent of net sales, compared to $39.6 million, or 35.9 per cent previously. This reduction in expenses boosted income from operations to $8.0 million, or 7.1 per cent of net sales, a substantial increase from $4.2 million or 3.8 per cent of net sales in the first quarter of FY23, the company said in a press release.

Net income for the quarter was $2.6 million, or $0.34 per diluted share, a significant turnaround from a net loss of $0.4 million, or $0.05 per diluted share, in the previous year. Adjusted net income improved to $3.1 million, or $0.41 per diluted share, compared to a net loss of $0.8 million, or $0.12 per diluted share, in Q1 FY23.

Inventories at the end of March 2024 stood at $165.1 million, showing a notable reduction of 26.3 per cent from $224.1 million a year ago, and a slight decrease of 2.4 per cent from $169.2 million at the end of December 2023.

“Our first quarter performance represents a solid start to the year,” said Jason Brooks, chairman, president and chief executive officer. “Cost saving initiatives implemented throughout 2023 allowed us to redeploy a higher portion of our spend toward advertising programmes which fuelled stronger than expected growth and meaningful expense leverage. We are pleased with the top-line momentum we experienced across our business, highlighted by double digit gains for our Durango and Xtratuf brands.”

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DP)

Disclaimer - All News/Articles items are subject to copyright and no article either in full or part may be reproduced in any form without permission from Fibre2Fashion Pvt. Ltd.