Wall Street

Amer Sport Not Worried About Sell Off

by The Editors on October 7, 2008

Rumors that Amer Sports‘ largest share holder was selling out of the company were not confirmed today. The parent company of Salomon, Bonfire, and Atomic hasn’t heard anything about the Icelandic investment firm of Novator selling any shares.

“I have not heard anything from Novator that could indicate they would sell their stake,” an Amer spokesman said.

We haven’t heard anything about it either.

[Link: Reuters]

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Quiksilver Suits Up For Hard Times

by The Editors on October 1, 2008

Elsom SuitIn a move far more fitting for the current business climate Quiksilver has teamed up with Sydney-based fashion designer Sam Elsom to create a limited run of “luxurious, hand-tailored garments for men,” including a suit. When the market’s in shambles go upscale.

The elsom suit is expected to retail for about $1200. The elsom collection will be distributed for sale internationally via Quiksilver shops and will be available as of March 2009. . . Quiksilver’s Men’s designer Ryan Scanlon said he was excited about the collaboration.. . . “Sam (Elsom) is renowned for the understated beauty and simplicity he brings to fashion and his dedication to sourcing the highest quality sustainable textiles is unwavering,” he said.

Wonder what the margins are on this effort?

[Link: News.com.au]

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Foot Locker To Pay $102 Million For CCS

by The Editors on September 29, 2008

Logo CcsAccording to a story in the Wall Street Journal (which we can’t read because we’re not subscribers) Foot Locker Inc. has reportedly said that is paying $102 million in cash to buy skateboard mail order company CCS from Delia’s Inc.

The reason: because Foot Locker wants “to capture more younger customers. . . The skateboarding-inspired apparel market has been a bright spot as consumer spending dwindles in segments like basketball shoes.”

[Link: The Wall Street Journal]

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Salaries Around The Globe

by The Editors on September 19, 2008

Globe ArGlobe International Limited released their 2008 annual report today. And while the document contains loads of interesting information (like the fact that the company suffered a $24.6 million net loss in fiscal 2007/2008) we dove straight to the “Key Management Personnel And Top 5 Remunerated Executives” section (page 34), because we love knowing how well our friends are doing.

Here is the breakdown of salaries plus cash bonuses:

Matthew Hill $948,222
Chief Executive Officer

Matthew Wong $554,490
President – Europe

Gary Valentine $433,271
President – North America

Marc McKee $421,263
Graphic Designer

Bod Boyle $381,507
President – Dwindle

John Sherwood $344,879
Vice President – North American Sales

Steve Douglas $233,129
President – Australia

Jessica Hogan $213,129
Chief Financial Officer

Gerhard Correa $154,700
Company Secretary

And this “salary transparency” is just one of the reasons that it sucks to work for a publicly traded company. Though, it obviously doesn’t suck that much for many on this list.

[Link: Sydney Morning Herald]

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Urban Outfitters’ CEO Dumps Some Stock

by The Editors on September 19, 2008

Don’t think he could have timed this any better but apparently Richard Hayne, the chairman and president of Urban Outfitters sold 1.4 million shares in the company earlier this week and brought in a cool $50 million. He should be able to roll on that for awhile, huh?

[Link: Barrons]

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Zumiez Gets the PJ Downgrade

by The Editors on September 15, 2008

Analysts at Piper Jaffray & Co. downgraded Zumiez today saying that the companies shares have “surpassed our target objective” and are “trading essentially in line with the long-term earnings growth rate” and they’re giving Zumez a “neutral.”

We expect shares to trade in range into the 1H of 2009 and would recommend adding to positions on sector pullbacks – longer-term, ZUMZ offers a superior investment profile. Our 2-3 year outlook remains positive, tied to square footage growth, solid category trends, and the company’s ability to orient its merchandise to evolutions in lifestyle cycles. We’ve re-set our 12-month price target to $18/share based on 20x FTME EPS (FQ4-FQ3), in line with the company’s LT earnings growth rate.

Sure, fine.

[Link: Street Insider]

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The Distribution Solution

by The Editors on September 13, 2008

Quik Costco

Wonder why we never see product from Hollister on sale at CostCo?

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Quiksilver Rings Up A Profit

by The Editors on September 5, 2008

Quik-Logo-TmWhile we were busy sitting through ASR seminars yesterday Quiksilver held their quarterly conference call. Luckily Reuters was there get all the details: “the company posted a quarterly profit that beat estimates, and stood by its fiscal-year earnings view, sending shares up 13 percent.”

Quiksilver said on Thursday that profit margins were fattened by a higher percentage of sales in Europe and at company-owned retail stores. Results were also helped by a tax benefit. . . . “We had a pretty decent quarter, given how tough the retail environment is around the world,” said Chief Executive Robert McKnight in a conference call with analysts.

Higher percentage sales at company-owned retail stores. . . wonder if that’s how Hollister does it?

[Link: Reuters]

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Quiksilver Q3 2008 Conference Call Today

by The Editors on September 4, 2008

If listening to Quiksilver’s Bob McKnight read a statement and then answer anylists’ questions is something you find entertaining (like we do), then tune your Internet deck to www.quiksilverinc.com at 1:30 PST today September 4, 2008 and be enlightened and entertained all at the same time with Bob, Joe Scirocco, Marty Samuels, and Bruce Thomas.

[Link: MarketWatch]

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Volcom Brings Japan In-house

by The Editors on September 2, 2008

For those in foreign countries, it’s a nice way to do business: set up the distribution of your favorite brand, get it rolling, and then sell it back to the brand. For the brand it’s a relatively cheap way to expand into foreign markets (with much less risk). That’s what Volcom just did with their Japanese distributor.

This acquisition is a testament to the strength of our brand in Japan after working with our distributor for more than 15 years,” says Richard Woolcott, chairman and CEO of Volcom. “We are excited to culminate a longstanding relationship with an opportunity to work more closely with our accounts in this important territory, while retaining our Japan-based distribution team.”

When it works out nicely, it’s amazing.

[Link: OC Metro]

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