Kellwood, parent company to American Recreation, continues to struggle with restructuring and creating a solid design infrastructure for many of its apparel brands. However, American Recreation, which includes Kelty, Sierra Designs, and Slumberjack, continues to grow its top line. Total Kellwood Company sales fell 12.5% during the third quarter to $587 million due to discontinued operations. The companys “Other Softgoods” division, which includes American Recreation, reported the only growth with sales increasing roughly 6% to $71.2 million.
During a conference call with analysts and the media, Kellwood president & CEO, Robert Skinner, said that American Recreations was one of the growth sectors for the company and they expect this trend to continue into 2006.
Kellwood is in the process of re-stating earnings for the last four years, so comparable income numbers were not provided, but the company did remain profitable during the third quarter with net earnings from ongoing operations of $64 million and diluted EPS of 64 cents.