Perry Ellis International Inc. reported revenues in its golf apparel segment declined slightly in the second quarter. The drop was blamed on reduced planned liquidations from a year earlier as Perry’s golf segment focused on tighter weeks of supply as well as sharper buys in its green grass channel of distribution.
“Importantly, we experienced strong momentum at the start of the summer and in the transitional period moving into the fall bookings for the second half have grown double digits compared to last year and we expect our total Golf business to achieve high single digit growth for the full year,” said Oscar Feldenkreis, vice chairman, president and COO, on a conference call with analysts.
The segment includes Callaway, Ben Hogan Grand Slam, PGA Tour, Champions Tour and Jack Nicklaus.
Feldenkreis said Ben Hogan “is achieving exceptional success” and grew over 40 percent for the quarter in both the US and Canada. Q2 also marked the successful launch of the Ben Hogan across 60 Walmart UK doors, which will expand to 200 doors in spring 2016.
“The brand is truly an international one and we are leveraging the Ben Hogan global brand equity to capture additional market share abroad,” said Feldenkreis.
Callaway “continues to perform well across all segments” Domestically, Callaway saw an all-door rollout at Golfsmith and launched at the PGA Store Super Stores for the first time. Callaway's European business grew high-single digits and its Callaway direct-to-consumer website soared over 60 percent.
On the women’s side, the PGA Tour Gal collection was introduced. Said Feldenkreis, “This new initiative is a feminine hybrid approach to our ladies golf business and we are booking extremely well.”
Overall, Feldenkreis predicted the golf segment to see growth in the second half of the year. Added Feldenkreis, “We have increased our technology offerings beyond what we have ever seen, which is the growth engine of our Golf business and the reason why we are leaders in this space.”
In its other major sports-related category, Nike Swim’s sales grew 11 percent in the second quarter.
“We had an extremely strong season, driven by our men's and boy's categories,” said Feldenkreis. “The Nike Swim assortment continues to gain market share and we are enthused with our new spring 2016 assortment.”
Perry recently expanded its Nike license to add international territories and is preparing to launch with key accounts in the U.K. International shipments begin in June 2016.
Companywide, Perry Ellis trimmed its net loss in the quarter to $1.3 million, or 9 cents a share, from $1.6 million, or 11 cents, a year ago. Revenues rose 4.8 percent to $213.3 million. Double-digit growth was also seen from its Original Penguin and Rafaella brands with growth in the single-digits from its flagship Perry Ellis brand.
The company continues to expect total 2015 revenues to be in a range of $925 to $935 million, but now expects adjusted EPS in a range of $1.78 to $1.85 as compared to the previous guidance range of $1.68 to $1.75. Earnings were 56 cents a share in 2014.
