Monday 27 August 2012

Billabong to close 82 stores on $275m loss


Billabong has revealed it will close 82 more stores as it unveiled an unexpectedly large $275.6 million loss after booking more than half a billion dollars in asset write-downs and restructuring costs.

The result was well below market expectations for a bottom line of around $30m and compared to a profit of $115.9m net profit after tax for the previous financial year.

The result was dragged down by one-off costs of $537.5m, including $343m in asset write-downs taken against the value of its brands and goodwill, $73.7m lost as a result of selling inventory below cost and $58m in lease termination payments related to the closure of 58 under-performing stores.

This was partially offset by a $201.4m gain on the sale of a 50.1 per cent stake in watch and accessories brand Nixon.

Excluding one-off items,  Ms Inman said that net profit would have been $33.5m.

"At an underlying trading level, the group remains profitable," she said.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation (ebitda) and impairment charges was $120.6m, at the bottom end of downgraded forecasts the company announced in June.

Revenue was down 7.3 per cent to $1.444 billion, with part of the decline attributed to exchange rate movements which Ms Inman said wiped $51.8m off the values of foreign sales.

Ms Inman also laid out a four-year transformation strategy aimed at returning the company to positive sales growth and lift ebitda to $210m, excluding one-off items, by simplifying the business and boosting the profile of its core brands as well as its presence in online retail.

Ms Inman, formerly managing director at Wesfarmers-owned discount department store Target, was drafted in to effect a turnaround at Billabong earlier this year after the company announced a series of earnings downgrades.

The company planned to close a further 82 stores this financial year, which would lead to annual cost savings of $8m at an ebitda level. Last month Ms Inman said that the company was close to finalising the closure of 150 under-performing stores and flagged that a further 85 were under consideration for overhaul or closure.

A further $30m in savings was expected this year from cost reduction programs undertaken over the past financial year.

Ms Inman said she expected trading conditions to remain challenging this financial year, and forecast ebitda of between $100m and $110m, excluding the impact of exchange rate movements.

The company did not declare a final dividend and said it didn't expect to pay an interim dividend this financial year but would review its dividend policy in the second half.

Shares in the company were down 1.86 per cent at $1.32 each following the announcements.

Billabong's shares have been smashed over the past 12 months after the company downgraded earnings, sold part of Nixon to ease debt, closed stores, and launched a $225 million capital raising that almost half of all eligible retail shareholders snubbed.

Prior to that, the company suffered after seeking to branch out into the retail sector just as consumers were aggressively reining in spending following the global financial crisis.

Billabong also irked shareholders in February when its largest shareholder, founder Gordon Merchant, blocked a takeover bid by US-based private equity firm TPG - which had offered a sweetened A$3.30 a share for the company - claiming that it undervalued the company.

TPG returned in July to bid $1.45 a share for the company, valuing it at $695 million, after the shares plunged.

Billabong said today that talks with TPG were continuing but reiterated that it didn't believe the bid reflected the "fundamental value of the group in the context of a change of control transaction".

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