by The Editors on December 21, 2008
Back in the early 80s Rainbow Sandals were the only flips any self-respecting surfer would wear. And now, almost 40 years later founder Sparky Longley is still living the dream and bringing in $12 million in profits on $37 million in sales. Not bad for a guy who still “depends on word of mouth” and a few ads in The Surfer’s Journal to spread the Rainbow message.
The LA Times rus a whole background check on the company and man and we can’t think of anyone who has done the action sports business thing more smoothly than Sparky. Click the link to check it out.
[Link: LA Times]
by The Editors on December 18, 2008
There were a lot of down days in the waiting period but it looks like Stephanie Gilmore, 20, newly-crowned two-time ASP Women’s World Champion has won her second consecutive Billabong Pro Maui against Melanie Bartels at Ho’okipa Beach Park, earning the young Australian her first Vans Triple Crown of Surfing (an ASP Specialty Series) Title.
Turns out ASP press releases continue to be the best coverage of most events. Follow the jump for that.
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by The Editors on December 18, 2008
Looks like we should have jumped in on the $.80 Quiksilver share prices several weeks ago because Quiksilver is fighting its way through some rough times. In their conference call today with analysts they stated that they doing well, but still have a ways to go.
Consolidated net revenues for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2008 increased 3% to $606.9 million compared to $587.3 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2007. . . . Consolidated net revenues for the full year of fiscal 2008 increased 11% to $2.26 billion compared to $2.05 billion in fiscal 2007. . . . European net revenues increased 16% during the full year of fiscal 2008 to $933.1 million and were up 4% in local currency.
Bob McKnight says:
I am proud of the efforts of the entire Quiksilver team around the world as we fought through a deteriorating global economy to deliver financial results that were consistent with the outlook we provided 6 months ago. As economic conditions continue to worsen in our key markets in the US and in Europe, we’ve continued our efforts to reduce expenses and capital expenditures, to carefully control inventory and to reconfigure our post-Rossignol capital structure.”
Notes from the conference call:
- Europe has been doing extremely well for the company.
- The DC footwear business has been “quite strong.”
- Sales will be down in the low double digits for the first quarter of 09
- Expecting a revenue decline in the high single to low double digits for 2009
- Every five cent swing in the Euro translates into $30 million in sales.
- Quik will open “very few new stores” in 2009. “Two in the US and maybe 2 or 3 in Asia Pacific and a couple in Europe”
- The company is looking to 25 retail stores. Nine will close in 2009; 21 of the stores are in the US, 12 are full-price stores and 41 percent of those are in California, Arizona, Florida.
- Quiksilver’s top 30 customers worldwide do less than 25 percent of the company’s sales.
- Capital expenditures for the coming year will be cut approximately $34 million from $94 million to $60 million.
- They are looking at every area of expenditure and trying to adjust to a new reality as to the projected 2009 revenue.
- Company debt still in the $1 billion range
- In 2009 there will be $70 million in interest expense
- The company also has a $55 million loan, which CFO Joe Scirocco called “the big one” is due on March 14, 2009
The Street appeared happy with the report as the stock rose 10% in after-hours trading.
For the whole press release, follow the jump, or click here for a transcript, or listen to the whole call right here.
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by The Editors on December 18, 2008
Looks like the Trestles Toll Road got another nail in its coffin as the US Commerce Department agreed with the California Coastal Commission’s rejection of the plan.
Federal officials could only override the state’s decision if the project had no alternatives or was necessary to national security, and the announcement this morning said neither of those criteria was met.
Nice work, Surfrider Foundation. People can change things after all.
[Link: LA Times]
by The Editors on December 17, 2008
Sam Bottoms, the actor who played “California surfer-turned-GI Lance Johnson in Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now has died from brain cancer. He was 53,” according to a story in the LA Times.
Bottoms was 20 in 1976 when he was cast to play surfer Lance Johnson in “Apocalypse Now,” in which he was one of the young sailors who accompany Capt. Benjamin Willard ( Martin Sheen) up river in a gunboat for his rendezvous with Marlon Brando’s renegade Col. Walter Kurtz. . . . Bottoms died Tuesday at his home in Los Angeles of glioblastoma multiforme, a virulent brain cancer, said his wife, Laura Bickford.
Bottoms helped create some of surfing’s most iconographic moments in serious film. And he will be missed.
[Link: LA Times]
by The Editors on December 17, 2008
We’ll probably hear more about this in the conference call tomorrow, but ASR is reporting that Quiksilver (and all its brands but DC Shoes) will “miss the January event for the first time since ASR was held in Long Beach,” according to a Shop-eat-surf.com.
Today Quiksilver told organizers that the brand will miss the January event for the first time since ASR was held in Long Beach,” the statement said. . . . “ASR continues to look for ways to work with Quiksilver and the industry as a whole through these hard times.”
Anyone want to buy a great surfwear brand?
[Link: Shop-eat-surf]
by The Editors on December 16, 2008
This should be entertaining. This Thursday, December 18, 2008 at 1:30 PST Quiksilver will host a “conference call to review its fiscal 2008 fourth quarter and year-end financial results
The broadcast will be hosted at www.quiksilverinc.com and at www.viavid.net. To listen to the broadcast, your computer must have Windows Media Player installed. If you do not have Windows Media Player, go to the latter site prior to the call, where you can download the software for free.
Get your rig ready and listen up.
[Link: Welt.de]
by The Editors on December 15, 2008
One of the biggest reasons we rarely watch Fuel TV is because it was never on our cable system. We always wondered why they couldn’t simply put their shows on their website so we could check them out any time we wanted. Finally, our wonders have been partially answered with Fuel TV’s the new HD web player from Move Networks.
“FUEL TV is the only television network dedicated to action sports,” says Gene Pao, FUEL TV Vice President of New Media and International Development. “Now FUEL TV will be the first place consumers can watch full-length HD action sports shows online. The quality of the viewing experience is really unmatched anywhere online in the action sports world.”
Soon we’ll be able to watch The Standard Snowboard Show, Firsthand, and FUEL TV presents Camp Woodward, but the bummer is that full-length episodes “will only be available on the web site for a limited time.” Huh? Well, at least it’s one step in the right direction. [click to continue…]
by The Editors on December 14, 2008
James Strong, 64, the chariman of the board at Rip Curl resigned from the board on November 20, 2008 but the company only just told the Australian Securities and Investments Commission on Friday, according to a story in the Sydney Morning Herald.
He will remain on the boards of Woolworths and Insurance Australia Group – he is chairman of both – and Qantas. He also plans to keep his small stake in Rip Curl. . . .His decision to step down from the Victorian company comes amid turbulent times for surfwear retailers. Billabong is suffering from a slowdown in global sales, and some US analysts say Quiksilver may have to put itself up for sale because of its hefty debt load.
[Link: Sydney Morning Herald]
by The Editors on December 13, 2008
At San Diego Connect’s 21st Annual Most Innovative Products Awards ceremony in La Jolla, on Friday December 12, 2008, the awards didn’t all go to the electronic or biotech firms. No, Firewire Surfboards ran away with the Action and Sports Technology Best Product award.
The design features carbon composite rods inserted near the surfboard’s rail, or edges, to enhance deep, carving turns. Connect introduced the action sports category last year to recognize the rapidly expanding cluster of recreational sports companies in the region.
It’s nice to see the words “technology” and “surfboards” in the same sentence.
[Link: Xconomy]
