The US shoe and clothing group Wolverine World Wide Inc. slipped deep into the red in the 2022 financial year due to high one-off charges. The parent company of brands such as Merrell, Saucony and Sperry was also able to announce a significant increase in sales in its annual report published on Wednesday.
Accordingly, group sales last year were 2.68 billion US dollars (2.52 billion euros), 11.2 percent above the level of 2021. Adjusted for exchange rate changes, revenues increased by 14.1 percent.
The engine of growth was the shoe brand Merrell, whose sales increased by 18.0 percent (currency-adjusted +21.6 percent) to 764.2 million US dollars. Saucony revenue increased 6.1 percent (+10.1 percent currency adjusted) to $505.3 million, while Wolverine revenue grew 8.8 percent (+8.9 percent currency adjusted) to $247.5 million -Dollar.
At USD 211.5 million, the consolidated turnover of the sportswear label Sweaty Betty was 80.2 percent (currency-adjusted +98.6 percent) above the previous year’s level. In 2021, however, the brand’s revenues had only been booked since the takeover, which was completed in August. On a pro forma basis – i.e. taking into account all of the previous year’s sales – Sweaty Betty had to accept a decline of 13.8 percent (currency-adjusted -4.3 percent). The Sperry label also declined, with revenues slipping 10.2 percent (-10.0 percent at constant currency) to $294.2 million.
A lower gross margin and high negative special effects burdened the result. The group had to make value adjustments totaling almost $429 million at Sweaty Betty and Sperry. This resulted in an operating loss of US$208.4 million after an operating profit of US$155.7 million in the previous year. The bottom line was a net loss attributable to shareholders of $188.3 million. In 2021, the group had a corresponding surplus of US$68.6 million.
For 2023, the group, which recently announced the sale of the shoe brand Keds and the switch of the label Hush Puppies to a licensed model and also intends to divest the Wolverine Leather division, forecasts sales from continuing operations in the range of 2.53 to 2. $58 billion. That would mean an increase of zero to two percent (currency-adjusted +1.0 to +3.0 percent) compared to the corresponding level of the previous year. In addition, management expects a return to profitability: the target for diluted earnings per share is $1.50 to $1.70.