Wolverine Worldwide Q4 revenues up 60.5 percent

Wolverine Worldwide revenues increased in

both the fourth and full year financial results ended December 29, 2012. Its consolidated full-year revenue increased 16.4 percent, while the fourth quarter results showed an increase of 60.5 percent.

During the fourth quarter, the Company completed the 1.25 billion dollars acquisition of the Performance+Lifestyle Group (‘PLG’) from Collective Brands, adding four lifestyle brands — Sperry Top-Sider, Saucony, Stride Rite, and Keds.

Consolidated full-year revenue increased 16.4 percent to 1.641 billion dollars, including a contribution of 219.4 million dollars from the PLG brands in the stub period since the date of acquisition. Consolidated fourth fiscal quarter revenue was 652.2 million dollars, growth of 60.5 percent versus the prior year. Fourth fiscal quarter revenue for the legacy WWW business grew to a record 432.8 million dollars, growth of 6.5 percent against the prior year. Full-year revenue for the legacy WWW business grew to a record 1.421 billion dollars, an increase of 0.9 percent. Foreign exchange negatively impacted full-year reported revenue for the legacy business by 10.6 million dollars.

Excluding non-recurring transaction and integration expenses, full-year fully diluted earnings per share were 2.29 dollars, compared to the Company's prior guidance of 1.96 dollars to 2.06 dollars per share. In the fourth quarter, excluding non-recurring transaction and integration expenses, earnings per share were 0.48 dollars – comprised of 0.53 dollars per share from the legacy WWW business and 0.05 dollars of dilution from the PLG acquisition – compared to the Company’s prior guidance of 0.12 dollars to 0.22 dollars per share.

“Fiscal 2012 was a milestone year – the third consecutive year of record revenue and the completion of the transformational acquisition of the four PLG brands,” said Blake W. Krueger, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, adding, “With continued successful execution of global growth initiatives and expansion of our direct-to-consumer platform, we delivered solid performance in a challenging global environment. The US market proved to be an important contributor to our consolidated performance in 2012, with many brands growing at a double-digit pace in the Company's most significant market, helping offset the yearlong headwinds in Europe and, to a lesser extent, Canada.”

Don Grimes, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, commented, saying, “The Company is very well-positioned for accelerated growth in revenue, profitability and cash flow. We expect to complete the full integration of the PLG brands in fiscal 2013, after which we should begin to realize incremental operating efficiencies. Our priorities for the use of our growing cash flow are clear – invest for organic growth, return cash to our shareholders in the form of a stable dividend, and pay down the debt we incurred in connection with the PLG acquisition.”

Although the Company expects strong performance in the US, Latin America and Asia Pacific markets in fiscal 2013, it also expects continued challenging trading conditions in Europe. Now, company expects full-year consolidated revenue in the range of 2.7 to 2.8 billion dollars, representing growth in the range of 64.5 percent to 70.6 percent versus reported fiscal 2012 revenue of 1.641 billion dollars and growth in the range of 6.0 percent to 9.9 percent vs. pro forma combined fiscal 2012 revenue of 2.548 billion dollars for PLG and the legacy WWW business.