Perry Ellis International Inc. said its golf apparel sales grew 12% during 2010, by Callaway, Grand Slam, and PGA TOUR.
On the company's fourth quarter conference call with analysts, company President and COO Oscar Feldenkreis said that during the second half, the licensed Callaway apparel brand “aggressively took market share from other golf vendors by having the right proportion of wear-now products. Initial Callaway ladies test sales are also improving said to be “very promising.”
Grand Slam, an exclusive brand at Kohl's, continues to experience strong double-digit season-to-date sales and momentum is expected to continue throughout this year. Overall, Perry Ellis expects its golf business to see high-single-digit increases in 2011. Other golf brands include PGA Tour, an exclusive at JC Penney; Top-Flight and Champions Tour.
Among in the company’s swimwear brands, Feldenkreis said the Nike men's swim product is emerging as the number one brand in the classification business at Kohl's, Macy's, and JC Penney with year-to-date sales up over 10% to last year. Its fashion swim brands are trending up nearly 20%, led by Jantzen, Jag and Perry Ellis. Said Feldenkreis, “We are optimistic about the swim season based on our early spring read and feel retailers will continue to fuel investments in building this business.”
Other sports brands include Pro Player as well as action sports labels, Gotcha and MCD.
Companywide, Perry Ellis reported a 9.1% decline in its fourth-quarter profit to $7.7 million or 54 cents per share, dragged down in part by costs associated with the recent acquisition of the Rafaella apparel company. Revenue rose 4.8% to $199.1 million.
