Outdoor financials: Timberland closes SmartWool sale, anticipates financial impact in 2006, plus VF Corp., Deckers, Sara Lee, adidas

Timberland closes SmartWool sale, anticipates financial impact in 2006
Shortly before Christmas, Timberland (NYSE: TBL) completed its $82 million acquisition of SmartWool. 2005 annual revenues for SmartWool are expected to be approximately $42 million excluding sales of Timberland footwear with SmartWool linings. Timberland said it anticipates this transaction will add $0.02 to $0.03 to its earnings per share in 2006, with benefits weighted toward the second half of the year. The transaction will have minimal impact on fourth quarter 2005 earnings, it added.

VF names exec veteran to lead procurement
VF Corp. (NYSE: VFC), parent of The North Face, JanSport and Eastpak, has named George Irion as vice president for procurement for the company, a new position aimed at identifying more purchasing efficiencies.

Irion, who had been director of purchasing and procurement for VF’s jeanswear division, also has led VF’s purchasing/procurement council for the last 18 months. He has headed purchasing and procurement at jeanswear since 1998, and has been with VF since 1980.

In his new position, Irion will report to Boyd Rogers, president of VF supply chain. Purchasing and procurement chiefs at some VF divisions will report to Irion, and he will work closely with others.

Deckers board grows to seven members
Deckers Outdoor Corp. (Nasdaq: DECK) has appointed John Perenchio to its board of directors, increasing its total number of directors to seven.

Perenchio is the owner and operator of Entrada Music, a holding company with controlling interests in three separate music enterprises: Fearless Records, a boutique rock and punk music label; Smartpunk, an Internet music retail store; and Ride Management, a personal management company. Perenchio is an outdoor enthusiast and since 1992 has been a director of Univision Communications, a leading Spanish-language media company in the United States.

Deckers board also voted to delete the classified board provisions from its Certificate of Incorporation, which will be subject to shareholder approval at the next annual meeting of shareholders.

Duofold’s parent Sara Lee to delist shares on European exchanges
Sara Lee Corp. (NYSE: SLE), parent of Duofold, plans to delist its shares from several stock exchanges in Europe because of low trading volume. Its board of directors voted to delist the company’s common stock from the Euronext Amsterdam and Euronext Paris stock exchanges, as well as the Swiss Exchange. Pending completion of the delisting process of each exchange, Sara Lee said it expects to complete the delistings for the Euronext exchanges on Jan. 31 and the Swiss Exchange on March 21. Sara Lee shares will remain listed on the Chicago, London, New York and Pacific stock exchanges. The announcement came five weeks after the company announced the sale of its European clothing unit as part of an ongoing restructuring.

adidas stands by 2005 guidance
Prior to the Christmas holiday, adidas (ADSG.DE) confirmed its sales and profit targets for 2005. It said it expects a 2005 (currency-neutral) sales growth in a high single-digit percentage rate and earnings growth of at least 20 percent. adidas upgraded its 2005 outlook in November after posting a forecast-beating 28 percent rise in net income in the third quarter. adidas also confirmed its mid-term goals, saying net income was expected to rise by a double-digit percentage rate after the Reebok buyout was concluded. Sales are expected to rise by a mid- to high-single-digit rate in the medium term.

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