Footwear and apparel maker Deckers Outdoor Corp. (DECK) on Thursday reported a loss for the three-month transition period ending March 31 as higher sales and margins were offset by an increase in expenses.
However, loss per share for the quarter came in narrower than analysts' expectations and revenues beat their estimates. The company's shares gained more than 6 percent in extended trades.
Looking ahead to the first quarter of 2015, Deckers Outdoor forecast loss per share to be wider than Street estimates.
Deckers Outdoor also said that Zohar Ziv will retire as chief operating officer after over eight years with the company. In order to facilitate a smooth transition that is expected to be concluded by the end of the year, Ziv is expected to stay until his successor is named. The company is commencing a search for his successor.
Further, Deckers Outdoor said it has decided to transfer the listing of its common stock to the New York Stock Exchange from the Nasdaq Global Select Market. The company expects that its common stock will begin trading on the NYSE on or about May 5, 2014, under its current ticker symbol, "DECK". Until completion of the transfer, the company will continue to trade on Nasdaq.
Deckers Outdoor recently changed its fiscal year from December 31 to March 31, and, as a result, the three month period ended March 31, 2014 is referred to as the transition period.
Net loss for the three-month transition period ended March 31, 2014 was $2.69 million or $0.08 per share, compared to net income of $1.01 million or $0.03 per share in the prior-year period. On average, four analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report loss of $0.15 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.
However, net sales for the period rose 12 percent to $294.72 million from $263.76 million in the same period last year and beat analysts' consensus revenue estimate of $281.77 million.
Gross margin for the three months improved 210 basis points from the year-ago period to 48.9 percent.
Selling, general and administrative expenses for the period rose 20 percent from the prior-year period to $144.67 million.
UGGâ brand sales for the three months increased 16 percent from the year-ago period to $197.6 million, while Tevaâ brand sales declined 9 percent to $46.8 million and Sanukâ brand sales decreased 0.8 percent to $30.7 million.
The company's domestic sales rose 9 percent to $198.3 million, while international sales grew 19 percent to $96.4 million.
Looking ahead to the first quarter of 2015 ending June 30, 2014, Deckers Outdoor expects to report loss of about $1.33 per share, but projects revenues to increase about 12 percent over the three month period ended June 30, 2013 calendar year levels. The company reported a loss of $0.85 per share for the quarter ended June 30, 2013.
Analysts expect the company to report loss of $1.05 per share for the quarter on 9.5 percent growth in revenues to $186.17 million.
For fiscal 2015 that will end on March 31, 2015, Deckers Outdoor forecast earnings per share to increase about 13.5 percent over the twelve month period ended March 31, 2014, and projects revenues to increase about 13 percent over the twelve month period ended March 31, 2014. Street expects the company to earn $4.02 per share for the year on revenues of $1.57 billion.
DECK closed Thursday's trading at $78.56, down $0.25 or 0.32 percent on a volume of 1.17 million shares. However, in after-hours, the stock gained $5.08 or 6.47 percent to $83.61.
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