Rockford, MI–Wolverine World Wide Inc., the maker of Merrell and Hush Puppies, reported Tuesday a rise in profits and revenues for the first quarter of 2011, driven by strong consumer demand.
Buoyed by the strength of the first quarter and continuing order trends, the footwear company raised guidance for the year, crediting the launch of its Merrell Barefoot Collection in February for some of that optimism.
Wolverine now expects to end the year with revenues between $1.380 billion to $1.420 billion, reflecting a nearly 11% to 14% growth over last year. Earnings per share guidance were raised to a range of $2.40 to $2.50, a 10% to 15% increase
Outdoor Group Deliver Impressive Results
For the quarter ended March 26, profits increased more than 30% to $35.9 million and nearly 28.6% to 72 cents per share. That compares to $27.5 million and 56 cents per share for the same period last year.
Revenues climbed 16.1% to $330.9 million over $284.9 million a year ago.
The results handily beat analysts’ average estimates expected earnings per share of 66 cents on revenues of $323 million.
Blake Krueger, chairman and ceo, said, “We experienced strong consumer demand for our products across all geographic regions. Our Outdoor Group, especially the Merrell brand, and the Heritage Group both delivered impressive results during the quarter.”
Gross margin reached 41.6%, slightly higher than last year’s 41.3% as the benefits of strategic price increases were offset by negative mix and higher product costs.
