Outdoor financials: Gander Mountain releases prelim Q4 results, plus Velcro, Hanesbrands, Wolverine

Gander Mountain releases prelim Q4 results

Gander Mountain (Nasdaq: GMTN) said in a preliminary report that it expects fourth-quarter sales to rise 4.9 percent to $333 million from last year’s $318 million. Significant declines in inventory and selling, general and administrative (SG&A) expenses are expected to help net income increase even more.

SG&A costs, as a percentage of sales, declined about 170 basis points to 20 percent of sales in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2008 compared with the fourth-quarter of 2007.

Retail segment inventory fell 18 percent per square foot, compared with last year and retail clearance inventory declined 20 percent as inventory management improved, the company said.

Retail segment sales were approximately $321 million, an increase of 2.9 percent, as compared to the fiscal 2007 fourth quarter. Direct segment sales were approximately $12.1 million for the quarter, compared to $5.5 million for the same quarter last year. Direct segment sales were boosted by the inclusion of Overton’s and the startup of the new Gander Direct Internet and catalog operations in the third quarter of fiscal 2008.

Retail segment net income was approximately $23 million compared to net income of $7 million for the fourth quarter last year. The improvement resulted primarily from increased product margins and decreased SG&A costs, the company said.

It expects a fourth-quarter net profit of about $20 million, compared with $5.8 million last year. The forecast includes a loss of about $3.5 million from its new Direct segment.

Comparable store sales for the fourth quarter declined 0.2 percent, an improvement over the 6.5 percent drop in the third quarter of fiscal 2008.

“Record retail segment net income, improved cash flows from operations and reduced debt reflect a second consecutive quarter of progress at the ‘New Gander Mountain.’ We continue to apply a more disciplined approach to our operations, capital, and expense decisions,” said David Pratt, chairman and interim CEO, in a statement.



Velcro completes tender offer

Velcro Industries (Nasdaq: VELC) said it completed its cash tender offer to purchase all outstanding shares of its common stock.

More than 471,000 shares were validly tendered and not properly withdrawn, and an additional 5,960 shares were tendered by notice of guaranteed delivery. All shares of the company’s common stock that were validly tendered and not properly withdrawn before the expiration of the tender offer were accepted for payment.

Hanesbrands predicts lower Q1 sales

Hanesbrands (NYSE: HBI), parent of Duofold, said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it expects lower sales in the first quarter amid a difficult environment.

The company said it expects a first-quarter sales decline similar to the one in the fourth quarter due to expected lower casualwear sales. It will also face a weak economic climate, high commodity costs, higher pension costs and costs related to a price increase, all of which will weigh down first-quarter results, it added.

Hanesbrands said in its fourth-quarter report that profit fell 64 percent, due to weak sales and a hefty restructuring charge, while sales fell 11 percent to $1.04 billion. It did not give specific guidance for the first quarter at the time.

Wolverine declares quarterly dividend

The directors of Wolverine World Wide (NYSE: WWW) declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.11 per share of common stock. The dividend is payable on May 1 to stockholders of record on April 1. The dividend is equal to the last quarterly dividend and reflects an indicated annual dividend of $0.44 per share.

–Compiled by Wendy Geister

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