Fitness financials: Q1 revenue for Town Sports down 7.1 percent, plus Iconix, Under Armour, GSI Commerce, Puma, Winmark

Q1 revenue for Town Sports down 7.1 percent

Town Sports International (Nasdaq: CLUB) said its first-quarter revenue dropped 7.1 percent, hurt by a 6-percent decline in comparable club revenue.

Revenue for the quarter ended March 31 was $117.7 million versus $126.7 million in the same period last year.

Total member count increased 1.9 percent, while membership attrition averaged 3.5 percent per month in Q1 2010, compared to 3.6 percent per month in both Q1 2009 and Q4 2009.



Net loss for the quarter was $732,000, or $0.03 per share, compared to net income of $639,000, or $0.03 per share, in 2009.

Total operating expenses decreased 5.1 percent, and operating margin was 2.4 percent versus 4.4 percent last year.

For the second quarter, it expects revenue between $116.5 million and $117.5 million versus $123.9 million for Q2 2009. It also anticipates a net loss between $1.2 million and $1.7 million, and loss per share to be in the range of $0.05 to $0.08 per share.

Town Sports operates clubs under the brand names New York Sports Clubs, Boston Sports Clubs, Washington Sports Clubs and Philadelphia Sports Clubs.

Iconix Q1 profit rises 58 percent

Iconix Brand Group (Nasdaq: ICON) said first-quarter earnings rose 58 percent as it earned more money from licensing and other revenue. Fitness EM licenses the Danskin brand name for fitness equipment from Iconix’s property, Triumph, formerly known as Danskin.

In the quarter ended March 31, Iconix earned $24.8 million, or 33 cents a share, up from earnings of $15.6 million, or 26 cents a share, in the year-ago period.

Revenue rose 42 percent to $71.7 million from $50.5 million.

Also, the company said it is acquiring the licensing rights to Snoopy, Charlie Brown and the rest of the “Peanuts” gang for $175 million in cash from E.W. Scripps Co. and forming a new subsidiary.

Iconix increased its full-year 2010 revenue guidance to $305 million to $315 million, up from $260 million to $270 million. The new figure includes between $35 million and $40 million related to the “Peanuts” deal.

The company new expects earnings per share to range from $1.23 to $1.28, up from previous guidance of $1.13 to $1.18.



Under Armour Q1 profit leaps

Under Armour (NYSE: UA) recorded an 80-percent surge in its first-quarter profit, helped by a 31-percent rise in apparel revenues, as well as strong sales at its online and factory stores.

Earnings for the quarter ended March 31 were $7.2 million, or $0.14 per share, compared with $4 million, or $0.08 per share, a year earlier.

Revenue for the period improved to $229.4 million from $200 million.

The company said direct-to-consumer revenue jumped 73 percent on increased sales online and at its factory stores.

Apparel sales were $172.6 million compared with $132.2 million in the same period of the prior year, while footwear revenue fell to $43 million from last year’s $56.9 million. The company had previously cautioned that footwear would likely drop this year when compared with the prior-year period.

Looking ahead, Under Armour now expects 2010 profit between $1.05 and $1.07 per share, a 14-percent to 16-percent increase from year-ago results. Its previous guidance was for earnings to climb 10 percent to 12 percent from last year.

The retailer predicts revenue in a range of $965 million to $985 million, up from a prior forecast for revenue between $945 million and $960 million.



GSI narrows Q1 loss

GSI Commerce (Nasdaq: GSIC) said it narrowed its loss for the first quarter as revenue rose.

Net loss was $8.1 million, or $0.13 per share, compared to net loss of $12.1 million, or $0.25 per share, in the same period last year.

Revenues for the quarter ended April 3 were $272.6 million compared to $196.5 million last year.

“The year got off to a strong start for GSI with better than expected top and bottom line results in the first quarter,” said Michael Rubin, GSI’s chairman and CEO, in a statement. “The key drivers to the upside were strong comparable store e-commerce trends and continued momentum in marketing services.”



Looking ahead, the company expects second-quarter revenues of $260 million and loss from operations of $20.9 million. For the year, it anticipates revenues of $1.3 billion and income from operations to be $15.6 million.

Puma’s Q1 net profit surges 82 percent

Puma said its first-quarter net profit leapt nearly 82 percent even though overall sales dropped.

It had a net profit of EUR 83.1 million (USD $110.5 million) in the first quarter compared to just EUR 5.6 million (USD $7.4 million) a year earlier.

Revenue slipped by 2.1 percent to EUR 683.1 (USD $908.3 million) from EUR 697.4 million (USD $927.3 million) a year earlier.

The decline was seen in Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, while the Americas saw a gain of 6.9 percent with EUR 190.4 million (USD $253.1 million) in revenue compared with EUR 178.1 million (USD $236.8 million) a year earlier.

Sales were down among Puma’s footwear, which dipped 4.6 percent, but accessories were down just half a percent. Sales of apparel were up nearly 2 percent.

Puma, majority held by French luxury goods company PPR, expects revenue for 2010 should see low- to mid-single digit growth and net earnings to increase as well.

(Conversion of Euros into U.S. dollars is for information only, is not necessarily relative to earnings, and is based on the currency rate as of April 28.)

Play It Again Sports parent declares cash dividend

Winmark (Nasdaq: WINA), parent of Play It Again Sports, said its board has approved the payment of a cash dividend to its shareholders. The quarterly dividend of $0.02 per share will be paid on June 2 to shareholders of record on May 12.

–Compiled by Wendy Geister

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