During the 2008 Q4/Year End conference call with analysts, VF Corp CEO Eric Wiseman said that the company will “remain very interested in acquisitions” for 2009. Though he said they were going to be very careful with their acquisitions and he didn’t mention any companies by name.
The biggest news of the call is that Vans is crushing, which isn’t news to anyone. “At Vans we enjoyed an extremely positive year,” said Stephen Murray, President of VF Corp’s Action Sports Americas. “Domestic sales were up 13 percent and we were up in every category except snow, and that is a small percentage of our business.” More Vans notes:
- Footwear sales up 11 percent
- Apparel and accessories grew by 40 percent
- Launch of boys apparel line was particularly successful
- Direct-to-consumer business grew 20 percent
- Vans stores saw an 8 percent increase in sales
- E-commerce grew by 40 percent
- The company plans to open more Vans stores outside California in areas where they feel their retail distribution is lacking
Follow the jump for info on Reef and VF Corp Overall. . .
The story at Reef was obviously not as good: “2008 was a tough year,” Murray said. “Sales in the core channel were down 4 percent for the year; 11 percent in the fourth quarter.”
- Sized down Reef to react to the market
- In December Reef went the licensing route with girls apparel
- For 2009 Reef will focus on core competancies: sandals, T-shirts, hats, and boardshorts.
Overall VF Corp cleaned up considering the market pressures and the rest of the players in the space:
- Full year revenues up 6% with EPS reaching a record $5.42
- Strong 2008 cash flow from operations: $679 million
- Q4 revenues and EPS in line with prior guidance
- Outdoor momentum continued in Q4 with revenues up 13%
- 2009 EPS expected to be in line with 2008
- Plan to open 70 stores in 2009
- $100 million in cost savings planned for 2009
[Link: VF Corp]
