Shares of Quiksilver Inc. jumped nearly 30 percent Friday after the firm posted a smaller-than-expected first-quarter loss and projected a small profit for the current quarter.
Aided by the absence of charges and wider margins, the Huntington Beach, Calif.-based boardsports firm posted a reduced loss of $5.3 million, or 4 cents a diluted share, in the three months ended Jan. 31. In the year-ago quarter, its losses totaled $194.4 million, or $1.53 a share. The 2009 figure included charges related its November 2008 sale of the Rossignol ski brand.
Excluding one-time items, the company’s first-quarter loss was 2 cents a share. Analysts polled by Yahoo Finance had expected a loss of 13 cents a share, on average.
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Net revenues fell 2.4 percent to $432.7 million from $443.3 million in the comparable prior-year period. Sales fell 8 percent in the Americas to $187 million and 2 percent in Europe to $177.9 million while gaining 16 percent in the Asia-Pacific region to $67.1 million. On a constant-currency basis, European sales slid 12 percent and Asia-Pacific sales dropped 15 percent.
Gross margin grew to 51.3 percent of sales from 46.7 percent a year ago.
The company expects a revenue decline in the high-single digits and earnings per share in the low-single digits in its current quarter. Before the announcement, analysts had predicted second-quarter EPS of 3 cents, on average.
Shares closed at $4.04, up 93 cents, or 29.9 percent, in New York Stock Exchange trading Friday.