Outdoor financials: Rocky’s profit swings to black in Q4, plus Cabela’s

Rocky’s profit swings to black in Q4

Although fourth-quarter sales lagged for Rocky Brands (Nasdaq: RCKY), it said cost-cutting measures helped the company attain a profit for the period and boost its full-year earnings.

For the quarter ended Dec. 31, the company reported net income of $0.9 million, or $0.16 per diluted share, versus a net loss of $2.2 million, or $0.41 per diluted share, for the fourth quarter of 2008.

Rocky said the quarter included more than $711,000 in restructuring charges from the closing of mobile stores selling Rocky’s Lehigh-brand footwear and a shift in the company’s customer service operations to Nashville, Tenn., from its hometown.

A year earlier, Rocky’s loss came after booking a $3 million non-cash charge to write down trademarks on its Lehigh and Gates brands.

Revenue fell in the quarter to $61.7 million from $66 million — a spike in military orders protected Rocky’s numbers from a bigger slide.

For the full year, the company’s earnings were $1.17 million, or $0.21 a share, in 2009 versus $1.16 million, or $0.21 a share, in 2008. Revenue dropped 12 percent to $229.5 million from $259.5 million.

Rocky’s brands include Rocky Outdoor Gear, Georgia Boot, Durango and Lehigh.



Cabela’s Q4 profit falls

Hit by one-time charges, Cabela’s (NYSE: CAB) said its fourth-quarter profit fell 66 percent.

For the quarter ended Jan. 2, the company earned $16.6 million, or $0.24 per share, compared to $49.4 million, or $0.74 per share.

But excluding one-time items related to restructuring and noncash accounting changes, the company said it earned $52.4 million, or $0.77 per share. That’s down slightly from the previous year’s adjusted profit of $52.7 million, or $0.79 per share.

Revenue climbed 4.5 percent to $919.2 million, up from $879.4 million.

For the full year, the company earned $49.6 million, or $0.74 per share – down considerably from 2008’s profit of $76.4 million, or $1.14 per share, last year. Revenue rose 3.1 percent to $2.63 billion, up from $2.55 billion in 2008.

Additionally, merchandise gross margins declined 70 basis points to 34.6 percent for the year. The company said this is significantly less margin deterioration than it experienced last year. Improving merchandising gross margins will be a key focus over the next several years and will be a significant contributor to further improving retail profitability.

The company said it’s in final negotiations to open two new U.S. stores in 2011, which will be a smaller, more efficient, next-generation store format. It’s also on track to open two new stores in Canada, also in the smaller format and scheduled to open in 2011.



–Compiled by Wendy Geister

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