Wall Street unimpressed by Nike earnings increases
The world's largest athletic shoes and clothing brand, Nike, yesterday posted earnings of $126 million or 46 cents a share for the quarter ended February 28 2002 – a rise of 30% year on year.
Achieved largely on the strength of recovering U.S. footwear sales, the increase nevertheless failed to impress Wall Street where shares in the company fell 4% – the consensus being that the 6% increase posted in worldwide futures orders was below expectations.
Worldwide sales rose 4% year-on-year from $2.17 billion to $2.26 billion, with US revenues rising 5% from $1.1 billion to $1.2 billion. Nike's largest business, U.S. athletic footwear, posted a 7% gain in revenue, rising to $784 million.
Nike Chairman Phil Knight said the company had reduced its global inventory by 5 percent over the past year while orders for delivery between March and July stood a $4 billion. "We have managed the turnaround of our largest business, U.S. footwear," said Knight in a statement.
