Wolverine World Wide, Inc. second quarter 2006 revenue totaled $238.5 million, a 10.5% increase over second quarter 2005 revenue of $215.7 million. Earnings per share for the second quarter of 2006 were 25 cents compared to 22 cents reported for the second quarter of 2005, an increase of 13.6%. The 2006 results include a 3 cent per share decrease in earnings related to FAS 123® stock incentive expense and investment spending for the Patagonia Footwear and Merrell Apparel initiatives.
For the first half of 2006, revenue reached $501.3 million, an 8.8 percent gain over the $460.9 million reported for the first half of 2005. Earnings per share for the first half of 2006 grew to $0.59 per share, up 20.4 percent from $0.49 per share for the same period of 2005.
“We are pleased to report another record quarter for the Company, achieving our 16th consecutive quarter of both record revenue and earnings per share,” stated Timothy J. ODonovan, the Company’s Chairman and CEO. “Our strong performance in the quarter was broad-based across our branded footwear groups with the Merrell brand remaining the top contributor. We realized double-digit revenue gains in the Heritage Brands Group, Outdoor Group and Wolverine Footwear Group. The Hush Puppies business experienced a slight revenue decrease in the quarter while achieving a strong earnings increase as the brand continues its U.S. repositioning efforts.
“We are encouraged by the Company’s performance in the first half of 2006, driven by the enthusiastic consumer response to our strong global brand portfolio and innovative product offerings. Excluding investment spending for new growth initiatives, all four of our major branded footwear groups, as well as our Leather and Retail operations, reported double-digit profit improvements in the first half.”
Stephen L. Gulis Jr., the Company’s CFO, reported, “Our 10.5 percent revenue increase in the second quarter of 2006 resulted from strong consumer acceptance of our Spring product offerings and a business model change with one of our international partners. Sales to this growing international distributor were changed from a distribution fee basis to a wholesale basis, which increased both revenue and cost of products sold by $8.3 million in the second quarter. The change accounted for 3.8 percentage points of the quarter’s revenue increase and also reduced gross margin in the quarter by 140 basis points, which is reflected in the quarter’s 37.9 percent gross margin.
“Our balance sheet remains strong, as the Company ended the quarter with a cash balance of $81 million. Inventories were down slightly and our accounts receivable growth was below the rate of revenue growth.”
ODonovan concluded, “We ended the second quarter of 2006 with our order backlog up over 8 percent. This backlog was impacted by the planned decrease in our Bates military footwear business for the back half of 2006. The backlog increase in our business, excluding Bates, approximated 12 percent at quarter end.
“Looking ahead, on the strength of the first half results and continuing consumer demand for our global brands, we are increasing the Company’s 2006 estimates. We now expect revenue to range from $1.120 billion to $1.140 billion, up from our previous estimate of $1.110 to $1.130 billion, and expect earnings per share to range from $1.38 to $1.42, up from our previous estimate of $1.34 to $1.40. These estimates are consistent with our stated long-term objectives of growing annual revenue in the mid to upper-single digit range and delivering double-digit earnings per share growth while investing in initiatives for the future.”
WOLVERINE WORLD WIDE, INC. CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS (Unaudited) ($000's, except per share data) 12 Weeks Ended 24 Weeks Ended June 17, June 18, June 17, June 18, 2006 2005 2006 2005 Revenue $238,457 $215,706 $501,296 $460,880 Cost of products sold 148,052 131,252 305,016 280,021 Gross margin 90,405 84,454 196,280 180,859 Selling and administrative expenses 68,737 64,243 144,984 136,398 Operating margin 21,668 20,211 51,296 44,461 Interest expense, net 29 481 138 1,000 Other expense (income) 331 120 465 (14) 360 601 603 986 Earnings before income taxes 21,308 19,610 50,693 43,475 Income taxes 7,074 6,353 16,830 14,086 Net earnings $14,234 $13,257 $33,863 $29,389 Diluted earnings per share $.25 $.22 $.59 $.49