Russell Corporation reported fiscal 2003-third quarter net income of $18.5 million, or $.56 per diluted share, versus $23.4 million, or $.72 per diluted share, in the prior year. The 2003-third quarter results included an after-tax charge of ($.03) per share associated with the Company's Operational Improvement Program. Excluding this item, net income in the quarter would have been $19.3 million, or $.59 per share. Prior year earnings per share included an after-tax charge of ($.10) per share related to increasing the Company's bad debt reserve. Excluding this item, net income for the 2002-third quarter
would have been $26.5 million, or $.82 per share.
First Call reports analysts' estimates for the Company's 2003-third quarter earnings ranged between $.45 and $.51 per share, with a consensus estimate of $.48 per diluted share.
For the 2003-third quarter, net sales were $388.0 million, an increase of $1.0 million from last year's third quarter sales of $387.0 million. In the U.S., net sales were $360.0 million compared to $362.7 million in the year ago
quarter. For the 2003-third quarter, net sales in the Athletic channel were up over 20%, driven by the Company's acquisitions of Spalding and Bike. Net sales in the Mass Retail channel were up less than 1% from the year-ago
quarter. Net sales in the Artwear/Careerwear channel were down over 20%, reflecting lower pricing and the reduction of inventories in the distributor market. International net sales were $28.0 million, an increase of 15% or
$3.7 million, reflecting the positive effects of foreign currency translation and sales growth in markets such as Europe and Japan.
Gross profit was $112.6 million, or a 29.0% gross margin, for the 2003-third quarter versus a gross profit of $120.5 million, or a 31.1% gross
margin, in the prior year. During the 2003-third quarter, gross profit was
positively impacted by the acquisitions of Spalding, Bike and Moving Comfort,
and by on-going cost savings initiatives. However, these positive impacts
were more than offset by: (i) pricing pressures and lower volumes, primarily
in the distributor market of the Artwear channel; (ii) additional costs for
new product features; (iii) higher pension and medical insurance costs; and
(iv) higher raw material costs for cotton and polyester.
Selling, general and administrative expenses (“SG&A”) for the 2003-third
quarter were $73.6 million, or 19.0% of net sales, versus $74.7 million, or
19.3% of net sales, in the comparable period last year. SG&A expenses in the
2003-third quarter decreased $1.1 million, or 1.5%, versus the year-ago
quarter, principally as a result of lower bad debt reserves and the benefits
of various costs savings initiatives across the organization. These
improvements allowed the Company to offset the incremental SG&A expenses from
its acquisitions as well as the additional expenses for marketing and
advertising. For the 2003-third quarter, total marketing expenses increased
approximately $5 million over the comparable period last year.
For the nine months ended October 5, 2003, net sales were up $28.0 million
to $883.9 million, a 3.3% increase over the prior year's sales of $855.9
million. Gross profit was $252.8 million, or a 28.6% gross margin, for the
first nine months of fiscal 2003 versus a gross profit of $246.5 million, or a
28.8% gross margin, in the prior year. SG&A expenses for the first nine
months of fiscal 2003 were $181.5 million, or 20.5% of net sales, versus
$174.5 million, or 20.4% of net sales in the comparable period last year.
For the first nine months of fiscal 2003, net income was $28.6 million, or
$.87 per diluted share, versus $19.8 million, or $.62 per diluted share, in
the comparable period last year. Excluding the after-tax charge of ($.03) per
share associated with the Operational Improvement Program in the 2003-third
quarter, net income for the first nine months of fiscal 2003 would have been
$29.4 million, or $.90 per diluted share. For the first nine months of fiscal
2002, earnings per share included an after-tax charge of ($.39) per share
associated with the early retirement of debt, an after-tax gain of $.05 per
share associated with the sale of non-core assets, and an after-tax charge of
($.10) per share related to increasing the Company's bad debt reserve.
Excluding these items, net income in the period would have been $34.0 million,
or $1.05 per diluted share.
Previously, the Company indicated that sales for the 2003-fiscal year were
expected to be in the range of $1.22 billion to $1.25 billion and net income
in the range of $1.25 to $1.35 per share. The Company now anticipates sales
for the 2003-fiscal year to be in the range of $1.21 billion to $1.23 billion.
For the 2003-fiscal year, net income, before any expenses associated with the
Company's Operational Improvement Program, is now forecasted to be in the
range of $1.31 to $1.39 per share. This range does not include anticipated
after-tax expenses of approximately $4 million to $5 million, or $.14 per
share to $.16 per share related to the Operational Improvement Program. The
anticipated costs of the Program include severance and other cash expenses
associated with a workforce reduction, as well as non-cash expenses related to
the disposal of various idle assets. Approximately 40% of these expenses are
expected to be non-cash.
“For the 2003-fourth quarter, we are forecasting sales to be in the range
of $325 million to $345 million, an increase of 7% to 12%, due to the expected
strong performance of Spalding and the successful marketing campaigns for
Russell Athletic and JERZEES,” said Jack Ward, chairman and CEO. “We
anticipate that our 2003-fourth quarter net income, before any expenses
associated with our Operational Improvement Program, will be in the range of
$0.41 to $0.49 per share.” First Call reports analysts' estimates for
Russell's 2003-fourth quarter earnings range between $0.41 and $0.49 per
share, with a consensus estimate of $0.45 per share.
“As we look ahead, Russell will continue its aggressive actions to build
sales and profits for both the Athletic and Activewear sides of the business,”
said Ward. “For example, in the Athletic Group, Russell Athletic has made
excellent progress with an exciting marketing partnership with ESPN ABC Sports
and several new product introductions, such as Dri-POWER(R), which have helped
drive sales up more than 5% year-to-date. In fact, Sporting Goods Business
magazine recently described Russell Athletic's Dri-POWER(R) product as
'exceptional' in a comparison of leading moisture-management products.
“The Spalding acquisition has continued to perform well, and we believe
there are substantial upside opportunities for the brand,” continued Ward.
“We also see the future potential for the Bike and Moving Comfort brands
beginning to take shape. For Bike, we are building on its rich heritage and
leadership position in the youth and recreation sports apparel and sports
medicine/protective markets. For Moving Comfort, we already have six new test
programs in 2004 with major retailers.
“In the Activewear Group, our Jerzees Spotshield(TM) sweatshirts that were
introduced at Wal-Mart for the Fall 2003/Winter 2004 seasons have been selling
well,” said Ward. “In the Artwear market, we are the leader in fleece and
plan to continue to grow our business. For 2004, we have added a major new
distributor in the Artwear market. In addition, the two largest distributors,
Broder and Alpha, have completed their merger and have expanded their offering
of Russell products for next year.” Russell is believed to be the largest
supplier for Broder/Alpha and they are Russell's second largest customer.
“As we forecast sales and earnings for 2004, we are approaching our
business cautiously, given the highly competitive pricing environment in the
Activewear business coupled with significantly higher fiber costs,” said Ward.
“We are preliminarily forecasting 2004 sales to be in the range of $1.28
billion to $1.32 billion. With our 2004 fiber costs currently projected to be
about 25% to 30% higher than 2003, we are forecasting net income to be in the
range of $1.35 to $1.55 per share.”
“Over the past five years, we have aggressively reduced costs in all areas
of our business,” said Ward. “In conjunction with the realignment of the
organization, we are announcing an additional Operational Improvement Program
targeting $50 million in pre-tax cost reductions to offset anticipated price
decreases, higher fiber costs and other cost increases for fiscal 2004. This
comprehensive plan includes improving operating efficiencies and asset
utilization, while streamlining processes in both our manufacturing and
administrative areas such as: (i) expanded production in Haiti versus higher
cost contractors; (ii) lower sourcing costs; (iii) increased efficiencies in
domestic textile operations; and (iv) improved distribution costs.”
As part of this initiative, Russell announced that by December 31, 2003,
it expects to reduce its salaried and administrative office staff by
approximately 10%, or by 100 to 110 positions. This organizational change is
expected to result in annualized pre-tax savings of $8 million to $10 million
and will cost approximately $3 million after-tax in severance and other
expenses, of which approximately 30% was incurred in the 2003-third quarter
and approximately 70% will be incurred in the 2003-fourth quarter.
Russell has also realigned its operations to increase focus on both its
athletic and activewear businesses. Under this structure, manufacturing,
distribution and some administrative functions will be combined with sales and
marketing to create a separate Athletic Group and an Activewear Group. “As
previously announced, Julio Barea, one of the most experienced CEO's in the
industry, will lead the Activewear Group, creating a fully integrated
marketing and supply chain,” said Ward.
In addition, Russell recently announced the construction of a new textile
plant in Honduras for both tee shirts and fleece production, which will
support the realignment with a fully-integrated, low-cost production facility.
Once fully operational in 2006, the annual pre-tax savings from Phase I of the
Merendon Plant in Choloma, Honduras should be approximately $15 million to
$20 million.
“These announcements reflect our continued efforts to better align the
Company's manufacturing strategies, processes and facilities with today's
global marketplace and are consistent with similar actions that we have taken
in the past five years,” added Ward. “All of these actions have been designed
to build sales, drive quality, reduce costs and optimize asset utilization.
We believe that these changes will contribute to the long-term success of the
Company, which is our goal for stockholders and employees alike.”
RUSSELL CORPORATION
Consolidated Statements of Operations
(Dollars in Thousands Except Share and Per Share Amounts)
13 Weeks Ended 39 Weeks Ended
10/5/03 9/29/02 10/5/03 9/29/02
(Unaudited) (Unaudited) (Unaudited) (Unaudited)
Net sales $388,001 $386,987 $883,909 $855,882
Cost of goods sold 275,394 266,458 631,094 609,421
Gross profit 112,607 120,529 252,815 246,461
Selling, general and
administrative
expenses 73,627 74,724 181,504 174,484
Other expense
(income) -- net 1,382 225 2,801 (2,533)
Operating income 37,598 45,580 68,510 74,510
Interest expense 7,826 8,379 22,436 22,807
Debt retirement
charge (1) -- -- -- 20,097
Income before
income taxes 29,772 37,201 46,074 31,606
Provision for income
taxes 11,313 13,838 17,508 11,757
Net income $18,459 $23,363 $28,566 $19,849
Weighted-average
common shares
outstanding:
Basic 32,451,194 32,164,310 32,337,036 32,094,366
Diluted 32,815,822 32,323,490 32,692,172 32,261,775
Net income per
common share:
Basic $0.57 $0.73 $0.88 $0.62
Diluted $0.56 $0.72 $0.87 $0.62
Cash dividends per
common share $0.04 $0.04 $0.12 $0.12
