DECK shares were off 5.3% for the week to close at $4.60 on Friday even as the company surpassed analyst’s earnings estimates. Net earnings for the quarter nearly tripled to $1.36 million, compared to $506,000 in the previous year’s quarter.

Diluted EPS jumped to 13 cents per share, more than double that of analyst’s First Call estimate of 6 cents per share and the 5 cents per share in the year-ago same quarter. Earnings were positively impacted by the Yeti litigation settlement.

Net sales for Q4 increased 23% to $25.8 million.
The company feels that the acquisition of Teva gives DECK more opportunity to fully exploit the true potential of brand. Teva sales rose 6.4% for the year to $65.1 million. CEO Doug Otto said the Southern California market appeared to be “saturated”, but the brand still keeps growing.

Ugg recorded its fifth consecutive year of double digit growth in 2002, fueled by national expansion and increased exposure in accounts like Nordstrom and Sports Chalet, as well as new penetration in Herrington Catalog, Neiman Marcus and Victoria’s Secret. Ugg saw a nice surge at Nordy’s in the fourth quarter.

DECK increased its guidance for 2003, expecting sales in the $101 million to $106 million range and diluted EPS ranging from $0.41 to $0.46. Sales for Q1 2003 should be in the $34 million to $36 million range and diluted EPS to range between $0.28 and $0.30.


KEY METRICS:

    FULL YEAR

  • Net sales increased 8% to $99.1 million.
  • Net earnings were flat at $1.6 million
  • EPS were also flat at 17 cents
  • Teva sales grew $3.9 million to $65.1 million
  • Ugg sales increased 24% to $23.8 million
  • Simple sales were off 6.4% to $10.2 million
  • Simple domestic sales were up 8% over last year