LaCrosse Footwear recovered from a flat second quarter and posted a 15.4% increase in third quarter net sales to $34.5 million compared to $29.9 million in the third quarter of 2003. The company said it has benefited from the occupational market's year round demand to partially offset the seasonality of its recreational sales, which are usually stronger in the second half of the year. Occupational sales were $15.8 million for Q3, up 36.2% from $11.6 million last year.
BOOT improved its overall gross margin by 370 basis points to 35.1% of net sales, up from 31.4% in Q3 last year. SG&A expenses increased 50 basis points as a percentage of sales, from 23.3% to 23.8%. This brought net income up 82% to $3.9 million, or 64 cents per share, in Q3, compared to $2.1 million, or 36 cents per share, in the year-ago period.
