Wolverine Worldwide predicts 3% to 6% growth for 2014

By

Olivier Guyot

Published
Feb 19, 2014

In 2013, the Wolverine Worldwide group's revenues increased by more than 60% compared to 2012. The U.S. footwear company attributes this spike to the brands it acquired in its purchase of PLG in late 2012.

In pro forma revenue, growth was still nearly 6% to 1.96 billion euros (2.69 billion U.S. dollars). The group touted the performance of Sperry Top-Sider, Saucony, Keds and Merrell.

For the last quarter of 2013, company results remained steady, with a revenue growth of 1% to 539 million euros. The last quarter ended in late December was marked by very cold temperatures and weak retail activity in the United States, not especially favorable to sales for Sperry Top-Sider and Stride Rite. Merrell, however, fared much better.

"For the year, nearly every geographic region grew nicely, with the only exception being the EMEA region that still delivered results consistent with our expectations," said group CEO Blake Krueger in a statement. "In addition, we were particularly pleased with the accelerated momentum in the Latin America and Asia Pacific regions during the back half of 2013, important regions for future growth across our portfolio and, particularly, for our newly acquired brands."

The group posted the final operating income of 140 million euros, with an operating margin rising from 6.9% in 2012 to 7.1% in 2013. The net earnings were 73 million euros.

For 2014, the group expects revenues between 2.02 and 2.07 billion euros, an increase of 3% to 6%, especially driven by double-digit sales growth in the Asia-Pacific and Latin America regions. Management expects the strategies implemented for the PLG brands will start delivering in the second half-year and become fully effective in 2015.