Outdoor financials: LaCrosse Footwear renews credit facility, plus West Marine

LaCrosse Footwear renews credit facility

Wells Fargo & Company has extended LaCrosse Footwear’s (Nasdaq: BOOT) three-year line of credit agreement, providing the same borrowing levels as the prior three-year agreement.

“While we did not borrow against this line during 2007 or 2008 because of our strong cash position, we believe this credit facility offers us additional support for managing our seasonal business cycle and making future strategic investments to grow our business,” said Joseph Schneider, president and CEO of LaCrosse Footwear, in a statement.

Effective March 1, 2009, through June 30, 2012, the new agreement allows LaCrosse to borrow up to $17.5 million from January to May and up to $30 million from June through December.



West Marine narrows Q4 loss

West Marine (Nasdaq: WMAR) said its loss narrowed in the fourth quarter due to tightened controls on expenses.

For the three months ended Jan. 3, net loss in was $29 million, or $1.31 per share, compared to a loss of $65.6 million, or $3 per share, last year.

Revenue in the fourth quarter was $111.1 million, a 6 percent drop from $118.3 million the same time a year ago. Same-store sales fell 5.1 percent during the quarter.

Selling, general and administrative expenses went down 18 percent year over year. The company also posted a goodwill impairment charge of $56.9 million in the prior-year quarter.

Despite the narrowed loss, West Marine said it expects the recession to slow sales in 2009 at roughly the same pace experienced in recent quarters.

For the full year, net loss was $38.8 million, or $1.76 per share, versus a loss of $50 million, or $2.30 per share, the previous year. Excluding one-time charges, net loss for the year was $0.35 per share.

Revenue for 2008 was $631.3 million, down 7 percent from 2007.

–Compiled by Wendy Geister

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