Callaway Golf Company announced that sales and earnings estimates for 2003 will be in line with previous estimates and will include about $25 million in pre-tax integration costs that are expected to put diluted earnings per share in the 65 cents to 67 cents range on net sales of approximately $810 million.
Full year 2004 will be approximately $1.03 billion, a 27% increase over 2003 estimates. Fully diluted earnings per share for 2004 are estimated to be between 82 cents and 97 cents, including primarily non-cash charges associated with the continued integration of the Callaway Golf and Top-Flite operations.
The Callaway business is expected to hit the sales projections of $770 million issued in October, but EPS estimates have increased five cents per share to approximately $1.02. The Top-Flite business is also expected to achieve the prior $40 million sales forecast, but the expected loss here will increase to 13 cents per share.
The company said they will eliminate the losses in the Callaway Golf Ball business in 2004, which will lose about $25 million in the current year, but also said that the results for Top-Flite for 2003 were less than expected, indicating that they have “some work to do”, alluding to continued losses in that business.
Company chairman and CEO Ron Drapeau said they had “found some surprises” and some costs they thought would be out of the business.
