Outdoor financials: Wellman reports loss in Q4 and FY 2005, plus GSI, Wolverine, Winmark

Wellman reports loss in Q4 and FY 2005
Wellman (NYSE: WLM) stated that its quarterly loss more than tripled as legal costs and Hurricane Katrina drove up costs.

Its fourth-quarter sales were $301.3 million in 2005, compared to $372.2 million in 2004. The net loss attributable to stockholders was $15.5 million, or $0.49 per diluted share, compared to a net loss of $4.7 million, or $0.15 per diluted share, for the 2004 quarter.

“The non-operational charges we incurred in 2005 relating to law suits alleging the company engaged in price fixing ($35.9 million) and the additional costs we incurred as a result of hurricane Katrina ($24.0 million) totaled approximately $60 million, resulting in a pretax loss of $48.0 million for 2005 which is less than the pre-tax loss of $54.5 million for 2004. The fourth quarter 2005 results were negatively affected by $16.6 million of the aforementioned charges relating to hurricane Katrina,” Tom Duff, Wellman’s chairman and CEO, said.

For the 2005 fiscal year, sales for the company hit a record — $1,376.9 billion. 2004 sales were $1,305.0 billion. Wellman reported a net loss of $44.2 million, or $1.40 per diluted share, compared to a net loss of $51.1 million, or $1.61 per diluted share, for the full year 2004.

GSI posts record ’05 fiscal year
GSI Commerce (Nasdaq: GSIC) reported double-digit increases in its fourth quarter and for the 2005 fiscal year. The company increased its net revenues 27 percent to a record $172.3 million and reported net income of $11.7 million, or $0.25 per diluted share, compared to net revenues of $135.6 million and net income of $10.1 million, or $0.23 per diluted share, for 2004’s fiscal fourth quarter. For the fiscal year 2005, the company increased its net revenues 31 percent to a record $440.4 million and reported net income of $2.7 million, or $0.06 per diluted share, compared to net revenues of $335.1 million and a net loss of $0.3 million, or $0.01 per diluted share, for fiscal year 2004.

Wolverine declares quarterly dividend
Directors of Wolverine World Wide (NYSE: WWW) declared a quarterly cash dividend increase of 15.4 percent to $.075 per share of common stock. The dividend is payable on May 1, 2006, to stockholders of record on April 3, 2006, and represents a $.30 per share annual dividend. The company said this is its 13th consecutive year of double-digit dividend increases.

Charges knock Winmark Q4 net income down
Winmark Corp. (Nasdaq: WINA) reported a disappointing fourth quarter and full year results, hit by impairment and compensation charges. It provides financial services and develops franchises for Play It Again Sports.

Its fourth-quarter net loss was $68,600, or $0.01 per share diluted, compared to net income of $980,100, or $0.15 per share diluted, for the same period last year.

The company said fourth-quarter results were negatively impacted by two items: an impairment charge related to Winmark’s investment in eFrame of $937,610, or $0.08 per share and a stock option compensation charge of approximately $420,000 or $0.04 per share.

Net income for the full year was $2.1 million, or $0.33 per share diluted, compared to net income of $4.1 million, or $0.63 per share, in 2004. Revenues for the year were $26.6 million, down from $27.2 million in 2004.

“2005 was a year where we continued to improve our franchising business and build the leasing sales and operations infrastructure to support future growth,” John Morgan, the company’s chairman and CEO, said in a statement. “2006 will be the first full year that both our franchise and leasing businesses will be firmly in place.”

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