We’ve seen several seemingly conflicting headlines regarding the Q4 numbers that Quiksilver reported yesterday (December 16, 2010). Bloomberg pretty much called it out like this:
The company, based in Huntington Beach, Calif., said it reduced its debt significantly during the fourth quarter, in part by swapping some of its debt for equity, and that should help it seize growth opportunities in coming years. . . It foresees a 5 percent drop in its first-quarter revenue. . . Quicksilver posted a loss of $22.1 million, or 14 cents per share, for the quarter that ended Oct. 31. That’s compared with a loss of $1.8 million, or a penny per share, a year earlier. . . Its fourth-quarter revenue fell 8 percent to $495.1 million from $538.7 million. . . For the year, Quiksilver reported a net loss of $9.7 million, down from $192 million in fiscal 2009. Its revenue was $1.84 billion, compared with $1.98 billion in fiscal 2009.
Aside from the net loss improvement it doesn’t sound like the greatest news, however, CEO Bob McKnight seemed pretty upbeat about the performance.
I’m very pleased to report exceptional fourth quarter and full fiscal year results,” he said in his opening remarks. “This performance resulted from many factors, but most important is our innovation, execution, developing and delivering great products. Our creative and impactful marketing efforts; we’re taking good care of our customers; and from the efforts of our teams of employees and reps, these talented people who have worked really hard this year; and from a focused business discipline that we’ve made standard practice throughout the year.
The market seems to agree with McKnight’s rather rosy view. This morning Quiksilver was trading up nearly 5 percent to $5.25.
For the entire transcript of the call, click here.
[Link: Bloomberg and The Street]
