Rocky Brands doubles Q3 profit on higher margins

US: Rocky Brands doubles Q3 profit on higher margins

By just-style.com | 29 October 2008

Higher selling prices and falling costs helped Rocky Brands to more than double its third quarter profit, despite a double-digit slump in sales.

The specialist footwear provider saw its sales for the three months to 30 September tumble 11.9% to US$72.5m, but the US company's net income was $2.4m, compared to $1.1m in the same period last year.

Rocky Brands attributed the profit rise to higher sale prices for its products, coupled with falling input costs.

"While the current macroeconomic conditions have created a challenging sales environment, we have continued to focus on areas of our business that we can control, such as cost containment and manufacturing efficiencies," said Rocky Brands chairman and CEO Mike Brooks.

"We move ahead optimistic about our opportunity to drive improved profitability on a year-over-year basis during the fourth quarter."

Wholesale revenues dropped 13.3% to $55.6m, with the company blaming supply chain disruptions caused by the economic downturn.

Meanwhile, retail sales fell 15.9% to $15.3m as work boot orders were affected by factory closures, redundancies and the deferment of safety shoe purchases.

Sectors: Finance, Footwear

Companies: Rocky Brands