Skechers finishes record year on strong international sales

By

Jennifer Braun

Published
Feb 7, 2020

It was a record year for Skechers, which announced on Thursday sales of over 5.2 billion for the full-year ended December 31, 2019.

The Manhattan Beach, California-based footwear company reported a sales jump of 12.5 percent for the twelve months. The company’s international business boosted sales, as a result of a 20.2 percent increase. In constant currencies the rise was 24.3 percent.

By segment, sales rose 19.8 percent in the international wholesale business and 13.7 percent in the direct-to-consumer business, with slower growth seen in domestic wholesale, as it fell 1 percent.

Thanks to this progress, the company’s net earnings for the year hit $346.6 million with diluted earnings per share of $2.25.

Meanwhile, the shoe retailer’s fourth quarter represented a new annual sales record and the second highest sales quarter in the company’s history. 

Sales grew 23.1 percent as a result of a 31.2 percent increase in the company’s international business, or 32.3 percent on a constant currency basis. 

By segments, the company’s international wholesale business increased 32.8 percent, its company-owned direct-to-consumer business increased 19.4 percent, and the company’s domestic wholesale business increased 10.4 percent. 

Comparable same store sales in company-owned stores and e-commerce increased 9.9 percent, including 10.3 percent in the United States and 8.8 percent internationally.

“Our mission, as always, is to deliver style, comfort and innovation to the world. Our continued growth along with the 27 product and brand awards we received in 2019 are evidence that we accomplished our goal,” said Robert Greenberg, chief executive officer of Skechers, in a news statement. 

“We have the infrastructure and inventory in place to meet the near-term demand for our brand, and we will continue to invest in our global operations.”

Looking forward to the first quarter 2020, the company expects to report sales in the range of $1.4 billion to $1.425 billion, and diluted earnings per share of $0.70 to $0.75. 

Having opened 280 locations and closed 40 over the course of Q4, Skechers finished the quarter with a total of 3,547 stores around the world, of which 800 are company-owned.