Steve Madden Q4 sales flat, updates full year EPS guidance

Steve Madden has announced preliminary sales results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended December 31, 2014 and updated its fiscal year 2014 EPS guidance. For the fourth quarter, net sales were 342.6 million dollars, approximately flat to the same period of 2013. For fiscal year 2014, net sales were 1.3 billion dollars, a 1.6 percent increase compared to fiscal year 2013.

Commenting on the update, Edward Rosenfeld, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, said, “Fourth quarter was a challenging period. Our financial performance was below our expectations due primarily to air freight incurred due to the West Coast port slowdown; below plan performance in our newly acquired Dolce Vita division as we moved aggressively to clear excess inventory; and challenges caused by production delays on goods from Mexico.”

Net sales for the wholesale division in the fourth quarter decreased 0.9 percent to 270.9 million dollars. Retail net sales grew 3.2 percent to 71.7 million dollars, whereas retail comparable store sales declined 2.3 percent. For the whole year, wholesale net sales grew 2.2 percent to 1.1 billion dollars. Retail net sales decreased 1.7 percent to 206 million dollars and retail comparable store sales declined 8.1 percent. Diluted EPS for the fiscal year 2014 is now expected to be approximately 1.75 dollars to 1.76 dollars.

“While 2014 was a difficult year at Steve Madden, we took a number of important steps to position the company for the future. We implemented a new e-commerce platform, acquired two powerful footwear brands in Dolce Vita and Brian Atwood, and moved to an ownership model in two important international markets with the acquisition of our Mexican licensee and the formation of a joint venture in South Africa. We are confident that these initiatives will drive significant long-term earnings growth,” Rosenfeld added.