Wolverine's branded wholesale footwear delivers excellent results

20 Apr '10

4 min read

Adjusted for restructuring and related charges in both years, operating expenses in the quarter were $78.5 million, or 27.6% of revenue, compared to $75.3 million, or 29.5% of revenue in the prior year. Reported operating expenses in the quarter were $79.1 million versus $87.5 million for the first quarter 2009.

Inventory at the end of the quarter was down $45.8 million, or 21.0%, compared to the prior year. Accounts receivable at the end of the quarter were up only 4.7%, substantially below the quarter's revenue increase, driving significantly lower days sales outstanding.

The Company repurchased approximately 884,000 of its own shares in the quarter for an aggregate cost of $24.6 million. Wolverine continues to have an exceptionally strong balance sheet, with virtually no debt and $84.9 million of cash and cash equivalents at the end of the first quarter.

Based upon the strength of the first quarter's results and very encouraging order trends throughout the quarter, the Company is increasing both its revenue and earnings per share guidance for the full fiscal year. For fiscal 2010, the Company is increasing its revenue estimate to a range of $1.160 billion to $1.190 billion, representing growth of 5.4% to 8.1% versus the prior year. Adjusting for restructuring charges in the range of $0.03 to $0.05 per share, the Company is also increasing its fully diluted earnings per share guidance to a range of $1.92 to $2.00, representing growth of 8.5% to 13.0% versus the prior year adjusted earnings per share. Reported earnings per share are anticipated in the range of $1.88 to $1.96.

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