LaCrosse Footwear Q3 sales rose 12% to $36.9 million from $32.8
million. Outdoor segment sales rose 7% to $21.8 million; work revenues
grew 20% to $15.1 million from $12.5 million.
On a conference call, Joe Schneider, LaCrosse president and CEO, said
warm and dry weather conditions impacted the companys outdoor boot
sales throughout much of the quarter, but the overall year-over-year
growth in outdoor primarily reflected continued penetration into the
cold weather and rugged outdoor boot categories. Officials noted that
the outdoor market tends to be seasonal, with the strongest sales in
the second half of the year.
The gains in work boots reflected continued penetration into a variety
of general and specialized work and uniform boot markets. Schneider
said one of the key strategic goals for Lacrosse is to become less
dependent on seasonality and weather conditions.
Gross margins improved to 39.1% of sales from 38.6% of sales last year
due to continued success of new products and price increases in recent
periods. Operating expenses were 26% of net sales versus 27% a
year ago.
Net income climbed 32% to $3.3 million, or 52 cents a share, from $2.5 million, or 41 cents a share, in Q3 last year.
