Kellwood reported that net sales for the first quarter were $484.4 million, a 2% decline from the $493.8 million last year. The majority of the decrease was planned within the company’s women's sportswear segment and to a lesser extent within men's sportswear.

Kellwood’s “other soft goods” which houses American Rec., the parent company to brands such as Wenzel, Kelty and Sierra Designs, continued to produce “excellent results” in the first quarter and achieved a 6% sales increase to $83.6 million versus $79.6 million last year.

Overall company gross profit for the quarter was 22.2% of sales compared to 20.2% of sales in the first quarter of last year. SG&A expenses in the first quarter increased to 18.8% of sales from 17.3% of sales last year.

First-quarter 2007 net earnings from ongoing operations totaled $5.9 million or 23 cents per diluted share. This tally compared to $3.9 million or 15 cents per diluted share in the first quarter of last year.

For the full year, Kellwood expects net sales of the “other soft goods” division to hit $95 million compared to $84.5 million last year. Full company Kellwood sales are expected to hit $2.0 billion to $2.025 billion. Operating earnings should be $100 million to $105 million and net earnings should range from $47 million to $49 million or $1.80 to $1.89 per diluted share.