Wolverine World Wide 3Q profit falls on charges

Shoe maker Wolverine 3Q profit drops partly on charges; adj. profit top views, boosts forecast

• On 7:12 am EDT, Wednesday October 7, 2009

ROCKFORD, Mich. (AP) -- The shoe maker Wolverine World Wide Inc. said Wednesday that its profit fell 14 percent in the third quarter, hurt by lower sales, restructuring charges and the stronger dollar.

But its adjusted earnings easily topped Wall Street's expectations, and the maker of Hush Puppies and Wolverine shoes raised its earnings outlook for the year.

Net income slid to $26.8 million, or 54 cents per share, for the three months ended Sept. 12 compared with $31.2 million, or 62 cents per share, a year ago.

Excluding 8 cents per share in restructuring charges and 5 cents per share for the stronger dollar, profit was 67 cents per share.

Analysts predicted earnings of 56 cents per share, according to a Thomson Reuters survey. Analysts' estimates typically exclude one-time items.

Sales declined 10 percent to $286.8 million from $318.9 million on difficult trading conditions in most major markets and the stronger dollar.

The results missed Wall Street's estimate of $292.3 million.

Wolverine, whose brands also include Merrell and Sebago, cut operating expenses to $77.8 million from $82.4 million during the quarter and also decreased inventory by 5.2 percent. The company expects to continue to lower its inventory through the end of the year.

The company increased its full-year adjusted profit forecast to $1.65 to $1.75 per share from a previous guidance of $1.55 to $1.73 per share. It also narrowed its annual sales outlook to a range of $1.08 billion to $1.11 billion. The company's prior forecast was for revenue in a range of $1.07 billion to $1.12 billion.

Analysts expect full-year net income of $1.70 per share on sales of $1.12 billion.

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