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Wolverine World Wide Reports Strong Fourth Quarter Results and Record Full-Year Earnings

February 20, 2019 6:30 AM

ROCKFORD, Mich., Feb. 20, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Wolverine World Wide, Inc. (NYSE: WWW) today reported financial results for the fourth quarter and full-year ended December 29, 2018. The Company also provided its full-year 2019 outlook.

“Our Global Growth Agenda gained momentum in the fourth quarter, with underlying revenue growing 4.6% on a constant currency basis. This was the highest quarterly revenue growth of the year driven by our two largest brands Merrell and Sperry,” said Blake Krueger, Wolverine World Wide’s Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President. “For the full-year, we achieved attractive underlying revenue growth and our efficient business model allowed us to deliver significant profit leverage including record gross margin and earnings. Looking forward into 2019, we expect to build on this momentum and continue to invest in a variety of initiatives to drive revenue growth and continued earnings leverage."

FOURTH-QUARTER 2018 REVIEW

FULL-YEAR 2018 REVIEW

"We had an excellent finish to the year, including better-than-expected earnings on revenue growth that was in line with our expectations. For the full year, we achieved a 12.0% adjusted operating margin, which exceeded our initial stated goal," stated Mike Stornant, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. "We saw solid underlying revenue growth across our portfolio including several of our largest brands. We also deployed our capital during 2018 in an efficient manner by returning $204 million to shareholders in the form of share repurchases and dividends, reducing debt by $212 million, and making $60 million of discretionary contributions to bring our defined benefit pension plans to essentially fully-funded status. As we look forward into 2019, we remain committed to our strategy of investing in organic growth, making strategic acquisitions and continuing to focus on deploying capital to enhance shareholder value, including a new four-year Board authorization to repurchase up to $400 million of common shares and a 25% increase in our quarterly dividend."

2019 OUTLOOKThe Company is providing its initial revenue and earnings outlook for the full year, which is summarized below.

NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURESThis release contains certain non-GAAP financial measures. References to "underlying" revenue indicate reported revenue adjusted for the impact of retail store closures, the transition of Stride Rite® to a license business model, the sale of the Sebago® brand and the sale of the Department of Defense business. Measures referred to as "adjusted" financial results exclude environmental and other related costs, organizational transformation costs which include gains or losses from divestitures, restructuring and other related costs, a foreign currency remeasurement gain recorded in the second quarter that is not expected to reoccur, a pension settlement loss related to the Company’s purchase of pension annuity contracts in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2018, incremental store inventory mark-downs and for cash from operations significant cash outlays for the wind-down of the Company's accounts receivable financing program and voluntary pension contributions.

Beginning in Q1 2018, the Company has separately provided the impact of changes in foreign currency exchange rates on revenue, rather than including it as a part of underlying revenue, to better isolate this variable. The constant currency presentation, which is a non-GAAP measure, excludes the impact of fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates. The Company believes providing constant currency information provides valuable supplemental information regarding results of operations, consistent with how the Company evaluates performance. The Company calculates constant currency by converting the current-period local currency financial results using the prior period exchange rates and comparing these adjusted amounts to our current period reported results.

The Company has provided a reconciliation of the above non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure. The Company believes these non-GAAP measures provide useful information to both management and investors to increase comparability to the prior period by adjusting for certain items that may not be indicative of core operating measures and to better identify trends in our business. The adjusted financial results are used by management to, and allow investors to, evaluate the operating performance of the Company on a comparable basis.

EARNINGS CALL INFORMATIONThe Company will host a conference call today at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time to discuss these results and current business trends. The conference call will be broadcast live and accessible under the “Investor Relations” tab at www.wolverineworldwide.com. A replay of the conference call will be available at the Company's website for a period of approximately 30 days.

ABOUT WOLVERINE WORLDWIDEWith a commitment to service and product excellence, Wolverine World Wide, Inc. is one of the world’s leading marketers and licensors of branded casual, active lifestyle, work, outdoor sport, athletic, children’s and uniform footwear and apparel. The Company’s portfolio of highly recognized brands includes: Merrell®, Sperry®, Hush Puppies®, Saucony®, Wolverine®, Keds®, Stride Rite®, Chaco®, Bates®, HYTEST®, and Soft Style®. The Company also is the global footwear licensee of the popular brands Cat® and Harley-Davidson®. The Company’s products are carried by leading retailers in the U.S. and globally in approximately 200 countries and territories. For additional information, please visit our website, www.wolverineworldwide.com.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTSThis press release contains forward-looking statements, including statements regarding: the Company’s ability to invest in growth, successfully execute key strategic initiatives, elevate brands with consumers, and deliver product innovation, organic and global growth and operational efficiencies; and the Company’s fiscal 2019 outlook and guidance. In addition, words such as "guidance," "estimates," "anticipates," "believes," "forecasts," "step," "plans," "predicts," "focused," "projects," "outlook," "is likely," "expects," "intends," "should," "will," "confident," variations of such words, and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve certain risks, uncertainties, and assumptions ("Risk Factors") that are difficult to predict with regard to timing, extent, likelihood, and degree of occurrence. Risk Factors include, among others: changes in general economic conditions, employment rates, business conditions, interest rates, tax policies and other factors affecting consumer spending in the markets and regions in which the Company’s products are sold; the inability for any reason to effectively compete in global footwear, apparel and consumer-direct markets; the inability to maintain positive brand images and anticipate, understand and respond to changing footwear and apparel trends and consumer preferences; the inability to effectively manage inventory levels; increases or changes in duties, tariffs, quotas or applicable assessments in countries of import and export; foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations; currency restrictions; capacity constraints, production disruptions, quality issues, price increases or other risks associated with foreign sourcing; the cost and availability of raw materials, inventories, services and labor for contract manufacturers; labor disruptions; changes in relationships with, including the loss of, significant wholesale customers; risks related to the significant investment in, and performance of, the Company’s consumer-direct operations; risks related to expansion into new markets and complementary product categories as well as consumer-direct operations; the impact of seasonality and unpredictable weather conditions; changes in general economic conditions and/or the credit markets on the Company’s distributors, suppliers and customers; increase in the Company’s effective tax rates; failure of licensees or distributors to meet planned annual sales goals or to make timely payments to the Company; the risks of doing business in developing countries, and politically or economically volatile areas; the ability to secure and protect owned intellectual property or use licensed intellectual property; the impact of regulation, regulatory and legal proceedings and legal compliance risks, including compliance with federal, state and local laws and regulations relating to the protection of the environment, environmental remediation and other related costs, and litigation or other legal proceedings relating to the protection of the environment or environmental effects on human health; the potential breach of the Company’s databases, or those of its vendors, which contain certain personal information or payment card data; problems affecting the Company’s distribution system, including service interruptions at shipping and receiving ports; strategic actions, including new initiatives and ventures, acquisitions and dispositions, and the Company’s success in integrating acquired businesses, and implementing new initiatives and ventures; the risk of impairment to goodwill and other acquired intangibles; the success of the Company’s consumer-direct realignment initiatives; changes in future pension funding requirements and pension expenses; and additional factors discussed in the Company’s reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and exhibits thereto. The foregoing Risk Factors, as well as other existing Risk Factors and new Risk Factors that emerge from time to time, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements. Given these risks and uncertainties, investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements as a prediction of actual results. Furthermore, the Company undertakes no obligation to update, amend, or clarify forward-looking statements.

WOLVERINE WORLD WIDE, INC.CONSOLIDATED CONDENSED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS(Unaudited)(In millions, except per share data)
Quarter Ended Fiscal Year Ended
December 29, 2018 December 30, 2017 December 29, 2018 December 30, 2017
Revenue$579.6 $578.6 $2,239.2 $2,350.0
Cost of goods sold352.5 355.8 1,317.9 1,426.6
Restructuring costs 0.7 9.0
Gross profit227.1 222.1 921.3 914.4
Gross margin39.2% 38.4% 41.1% 38.9%
Selling, general and administrative expenses165.5 182.2 654.1 706.0
Restructuring and other related costs 7.3 72.9
Impairment of intangible assets 68.6 68.6
Environmental and other related costs7.7 35.3 15.3 35.3
Operating expenses173.2 293.4 669.4 882.8
Operating expenses as a % of revenue29.9% 50.7% 29.9% 37.6%
Operating profit (loss), net53.9 (71.3) 251.9 31.6
Operating margin9.3% (12.3)% 11.2% 1.3%
Interest expense, net5.8 8.7 24.5 32.1
Debt extinguishment and other costs0.6 0.6
Other expense (income), net6.6 0.9 (0.6) 10.1
Total other expenses13.0 9.6 24.5 42.2
Earnings (loss) before income taxes40.9 (80.9) 227.4 (10.6)
Income tax expense (benefit)1.6 (20.1) 27.1 (9.9)
Effective tax rate4.0% 25.0% 11.9% 93.7%
Net earnings (loss)39.3 (60.8) 200.3 (0.7)
Less: net earnings (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interests (0.5) 0.2 (1.0)
Net earnings (loss) attributable to Wolverine World Wide, Inc.$39.3 $(60.3) $200.1 $0.3
Diluted earnings (loss) per share$0.40 $(0.65) $2.05 $
Supplemental information:
Net earnings (loss) used to calculate diluted earnings (loss) per share$37.8 $(60.3) $194.4 $0.1
Shares used to calculate diluted earnings (loss) per share93.7 93.2 95.0 95.4
Weighted average shares outstanding93.6 95.8 94.8 96.4

WOLVERINE WORLD WIDE, INC.CONSOLIDATED CONDENSED BALANCE SHEETS(Unaudited)(In millions)
December 29, 2018 December 30, 2017
ASSETS
Cash and cash equivalents$143.1 $481.0
Accounts receivables, net361.2 271.3
Inventories, net317.6 276.7
Other current assets45.8 45.3
Total current assets867.7 1,074.3
Property, plant and equipment, net130.9 136.7
Goodwill and other indefinite-lived intangibles1,028.9 1,034.3
Other non-current assets155.6 153.7
Total assets$2,183.1 $2,399.0
LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY
Accounts payable and other accrued liabilities$340.6 $324.3
Current maturities of long-term debt7.5 37.5
Borrowings under revolving credit agreements and other short-term notes125.0 0.5
Total current liabilities473.1 362.3
Long-term debt438.0 744.6
Other non-current liabilities280.4 336.9
Stockholders' equity991.6 955.2
Total liabilities and stockholders' equity$2,183.1 $2,399.0

WOLVERINE WORLD WIDE, INC.CONSOLIDATED CONDENSED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS(Unaudited)(In millions)
Fiscal Year Ended
December 29, 2018 December 30, 2017
OPERATING ACTIVITIES:
Net earnings (loss)$200.3 $(0.7)
Adjustments to reconcile net earnings (loss) to net cash provided by operating activities:
Depreciation and amortization31.5 37.2
Deferred income taxes22.1 (75.8)
Stock-based compensation expense31.2 25.4
Pension contribution(60.7) (11.3)
Pension and SERP expense11.8 14.9
Debt extinguishment costs0.6
Restructuring and other related costs 81.9
Cash payments related to restructuring costs(5.1) (64.8)
Impairment of intangible assets 68.6
Environmental and other related costs, net of cash payments(6.1) 32.3
Other9.8 (18.3)
Changes in operating assets and liabilities(137.9) 113.3
Net cash provided by operating activities97.5 202.7
INVESTING ACTIVITIES:
Additions to property, plant and equipment(21.7) (32.4)
Proceeds from sale of a business and other assets2.2 38.6
Investment in joint venture (2.1)
Other(2.7) (5.1)
Net cash used in investing activities(22.2) (1.0)
FINANCING ACTIVITIES:
Net borrowings (payments) under revolving credit agreements and other short-term notes124.5 (2.6)
Borrowings of long-term debt200.0
Payments on long-term debt(538.2) (37.5)
Payments of debt issuance and debt extinguishment costs(2.7) (0.1)
Cash dividends paid(28.6) (23.0)
Purchase of common stock for treasury(174.7) (51.5)
Purchases of shares under employee stock plans(8.8) (5.5)
Proceeds from the exercise of stock options24.0 21.4
Contributions from noncontrolling interests 0.8
Net cash used in financing activities(404.5) (98.0)
Effect of foreign exchange rate changes(8.7) 7.5
Increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents(337.9) 111.2
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of the year481.0 369.8
Cash and cash equivalents at end of the year$143.1 $481.0

The following tables contain information regarding the non-GAAP adjustments used by the Company in the presentation of its financial results:

WOLVERINE WORLD WIDE, INC.Q4 2018 RECONCILIATION TABLESRECONCILIATION OF REPORTED REVENUE TO ADJUSTEDREVENUE ON A CONSTANT CURRENCY BASIS*(Unaudited)(In millions)
GAAP Basis Adjustments (1) UnderlyingRevenue Foreign-Exchange Impact Constant Currency Revenue
Revenue - Fiscal 2018 Q4$579.6 $579.6 $4.1 $583.7
Growth (decline)0.2% 3.8% 4.6%
Revenue - Fiscal 2017 Q4$578.6 $(20.4) $558.2 $558.2
(1) Adjustments include the impact from retail store closures, the transition of Stride Rite® to a license business model, the sale of Sebago® and the sale of the Department of Defense business.

RECONCILIATION OF REPORTED GROSS MARGINTO ADJUSTED GROSS MARGIN*(Unaudited)(In millions)
GAAP Basis Restructuring Costs As Adjusted
Gross Profit - Fiscal 2018 Q4$227.1 $227.1
Gross margin39.2% 39.2%
Gross Profit - Fiscal 2017 Q4$222.1 $0.7 $222.8
Gross margin38.4% 38.5%

RECONCILIATION OF REPORTED OPERATING MARGINTO ADJUSTED OPERATING MARGIN*(Unaudited)(In millions)
GAAP Basis Adjustments (1) As Adjusted
Operating Profit - Fiscal 2018 Q4$53.9 $8.2 $62.1
Operating margin9.3% 10.7%
Operating Profit - Fiscal 2017 Q4$(71.3) $134.7 $63.4
Operating margin(12.3)% 11.0%
(1) Q4 2018 adjustments include $7.7 million of environmental and related costs and $0.5 million of other costs. Q4 2017 adjustments include $35.3 million of environmental and related costs, $22.8 million of organizational transformation costs, $68.6 million of intangible asset impairment, and $8.0 million of restructuring and other related costs.

RECONCILIATION OF REPORTED DILUTED EPSTO ADJUSTED DILUTED EPS*(Unaudited)
GAAP Basis EPS Adjustments (1) As Adjusted EPS
Fiscal 2018 Q4$0.40 $0.12 $0.52
Fiscal 2017 Q4$(0.65) $1.06 $0.41
(1) Q4 2018 adjustments include the impact of environmental and related costs, pension settlement costs and other costs. Q4 2017 adjustments include the impact of impairment of intangible assets, environmental and other related costs, organizational transformation costs, restructuring and other related costs and the impact of tax reform.

2018 FULL-YEAR RECONCILIATION TABLESRECONCILIATION OF REPORTED REVENUE TO ADJUSTEDREVENUE ON A CONSTANT CURRENCY BASIS*(Unaudited)(In millions)
GAAP Basis Adjustments (1) Underlying Revenue Foreign-Exchange Impact Constant Currency Revenue
Revenue - Fiscal 2018$2,239.2 $2,239.2 $(4.1) $2,235.1
Growth (decline)(4.7)% 2.5% 2.3%
Revenue - Fiscal 2017$2,350.0 $(165.6) $2,184.4 $2,184.4
(1) Fiscal 2017 adjustments include the impact from retail store closures, the transition of Stride Rite® to a license business model, the sale of Sebago® and the sale of the Department of Defense business.

RECONCILIATION OF REPORTED GROSS MARGINTO ADJUSTED GROSS MARGIN*(Unaudited)(In millions)
GAAP Basis Adjustments (1) As Adjusted
Gross Profit - Fiscal 2018$921.3 $921.3
Gross margin41.1% 41.1%
Gross Profit - Fiscal 2017$914.4 $16.5 $930.9
Gross margin38.9% 39.6%
(1) Fiscal 2017 adjustments include $9.0 million of restructuring costs and $7.5 million of incremental inventory markdowns.

RECONCILIATION OF REPORTED OPERATING MARGINTO ADJUSTED OPERATING MARGIN*(Unaudited)(In millions)
GAAP Basis Adjustments (1) As Adjusted
Operating Profit - Fiscal 2018$251.9 $15.8 $267.7
Operating margin11.2% 12.0%
Operating Profit - Fiscal 2017$31.6 $231.1 $262.7
Operating margin1.3% 11.2%
(1) Fiscal 2018 adjustments include $15.3 million of environmental and related costs and $0.5 million of other costs. Fiscal 2017 adjustments include $81.9 million of restructuring and other related costs, $37.8 million of organizational transformation costs, $7.5 million of incremental inventory mark-downs, $68.6 million for impairment of intangible assets and $35.3 million of environmental and other related costs.

RECONCILIATION OF REPORTED DILUTED EPSTO ADJUSTED DILUTED EPS*(Unaudited)
GAAP Basis EPS Adjustments (1) As Adjusted EPS
Fiscal 2018$2.05 $0.12 $2.17
Fiscal 2017$ $1.64 $1.64
(1) Fiscal 2018 adjustments include the impact of environmental and related costs, pension settlement costs, a foreign currency remeasurement gain recorded in the second quarter that is not expected to reoccur and other costs. Fiscal 2017 adjustments include the impact of restructuring and other related costs, organizational transformation costs, incremental inventory mark-downs, impairment of intangible assets, environmental and other related costs and the impact of tax reform.

RECONCILIATION OF REPORTED CASH FROM OPERATIONS TOTO ADJUSTED CASH FROM OPERATIONS*(Unaudited)
Fiscal 2018
GAAP Basis - Cash from Operations$97.5
Adjustments (1)137.4
Adjusted Basis - Cash from Operations$234.9
(1) Adjustments include the impact of winding-down the Company's accounts receivable financing program ($77.4 million) and the impact of voluntary pension contributions ($60.0 million).

2019 GUIDANCE RECONCILIATION TABLESRECONCILIATION OF FISCAL 2019 FULL-YEAR REPORTED OPERATING PROFITGUIDANCE TO ADJUSTED OPERATING PROFIT GUIDANCE*(Unaudited)(In millions)
GAAP BasisFull-Year Operating Profit Adjustment (1) As AdjustedFull-Year Operating Profit
Fiscal 2019 Operating Profit Guidance$ 260.0 - 274.0 $20.0 $ 280.0 - 294.0
Operating Margin Guidance11.4% - 11.8% 12.2% - 12.6%
(1) Adjustment includes estimated legal, consulting and other costs related to environmental matters.

RECONCILIATION OF FISCAL 2019 FULL-YEAR DILUTED EPSGUIDANCE TO ADJUSTED DILUTED EPS GUIDANCE*(Unaudited)
GAAP BasisFull-Year Adjustment (1) As AdjustedFull-Year
Diluted earnings per share guidance$ 2.03 - 2.18 $0.17 $ 2.20 - 2.35
(1) Adjustment includes estimated legal, consulting and other costs related to environmental matters.

* To supplement the consolidated financial statements presented in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles ("GAAP"), the Company describes what certain financial measures would have been if restructuring and other related costs, incremental inventory mark-downs, organizational transformation costs which include gains or losses from divestitures, a foreign currency remeasurement gain recorded in the second quarter of fiscal 2018 that is not expected to reoccur, a pension settlement loss related to the Company’s purchase of pension annuity contracts in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2018, environmental and other related costs and for cash from operations significant cash outlays for the wind-down of the Company's accounts receivable financing program and voluntary pension contributions were excluded. The Company also describes underlying revenue, which excludes the impact of retail store closures, the transition of Stride Rite® to a license business model, the sale of the Sebago® brand and the sale of the Department of Defense business. The Company believes these non-GAAP measures provide useful information to both management and investors to increase comparability to the prior period by adjusting for certain items that may not be indicative of core operating measures and to better identify trends in our business. The adjusted financial results are used by management to, and allow investors to, evaluate the operating performance of the Company on a comparable basis.

Beginning in Q1 2018, the Company has separately provided the impact of changes in foreign currency exchange rates on revenue, rather than including it as a part of underlying revenue, to better isolate this variable. The constant currency presentation, which is a non-GAAP measure, excludes the impact of fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates. The Company believes providing constant currency information provides valuable supplemental information regarding results of operations, consistent with how the Company evaluates performance. The Company calculates constant currency by converting the current-period local currency financial results using the prior period exchange rates and comparing these adjusted amounts to our current period reported results.

Management does not, nor should investors, consider such non-GAAP financial measures in isolation from, or as a substitution for, financial information prepared in accordance with GAAP. A reconciliation of all non-GAAP measures included in this press release, to the most directly comparable GAAP measures are found in the financial tables above.

CONTACT: Michael D. Stornant(616) 866-5728

Source: Wolverine World Wide

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