Outdoor financials: Deckers Outdoor chairman sells shares, plus Jarden, Wolverine, West Marine

Deckers Outdoor chairman sells shares
Doug Otto, the chairman of Deckers Outdoor Corp. (Nasdaq: DECK), sold 2,153 shares of common stock under a prearranged trading plan, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

In a Form 4 filed with the SEC, Otto reported he sold the shares Dec. 28 for $60.13 apiece. The stock sale was conducted under a prearranged 10b5-1 trading plan which allows a company insider to set up a program in advance for such transactions and proceed with them even if he or she comes into possession of material nonpublic information.

Insiders file Form 4s with the SEC to report transactions in their companies’ shares. Open market purchases and sales must be reported within two business days of the transaction.

Deckers is the parent company of Teva, Uggs and Simple.

Coleman parent debuts on Forbes’ Platinum 400 list
Jarden Corp. (NYSE: JAH), parent of Coleman and Camping Gaz, has been ranked eighth overall, and No. 1 within the Consumer Durables category, on Forbes magazine’s annual Platinum 400 list, which identifies the best of the largest publicly traded companies in America, with a five-year total return of nearly 60 percent. This ranking marks Jarden’s debut on the list, which appears in the Jan. 8, 2007, issue of Forbes.

Each year, the Forbes’ Platinum 400 list honors the best of the largest public companies in America, which are selected based on an analysis of financial metrics, Wall Street forecasts, corporate governance ratings and other public information of more than 1,000 publicly traded businesses with at least $1 billion in annual revenues. Companies making the list must be industry leaders in long-term and short-term return on capital, growth in sales and earnings, and other measures of financial success, as scored against their industry peers.

Wolverine gets $5.1 million defense logistics contract
The Defense Logistics Agency said it awarded a contract worth up to $5.1 million to Wolverine World Wide (NYSE: WWW), parent of various brands including Merrell, for men’s dress leather shoes. The shoes will be delivered to Navy and Air Force services. Work will be performed and completed in Jonesboro, Ark., Big Rapids and Cedar Springs, Mich. by Jan. 5, 2008.

West Marine Q4 same-store sales dip, full-year sales rise
West Marine (Nasdaq: WMAR) reported that its fourth-quarter same-store sales, or sales at stores open at least a year, slid by 0.2 percent. In the year-ago period, same-store sales grew by 3.9 percent. Net sales for the quarter dipped to $122.3 million from $124.8 million last year.

Full-year same-store sales increased 2.3 percent compared with a 2.2 percent decrease last year. Total sales rose slightly to $715.1 million from $692.3 million last year.

The company also said it is evaluating its accounting method for indirect costs included in merchandise inventories, and that any adjustment would not change cash flows, but would affect the balance sheet and statement of operations.

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