By JOHN VAN KLAVEREN
ICONIC Torquay surfwear brand Quiksilver has suffered a second quarter loss after its Australia-Pacific operations dropped 14 per cent.
Australia Pacific sales fell $10 million to $64 million, according the company’s second-quarter report revealed.
Total revenue for Quiksilver dropped seven per cent to $459 million from $492 million for the same period last year.
Gross profit decreased to $211 million from $242 million.
Quiksilver’s European segment was worst hit, suffering a $30 million drop in net revenue, a fall of 16 per cent.
Quiksilver reported some sales increases as a result of increased clearance sales as it tried to clear old stock.
Australian-Pacific sales dropped across the core brands of Quiksilver and Roxy, with only the American segment offering positive results.
The report said the decrease was partly due to increased discounting and clearance sales to clear slow-selling product.
Quiksilver announced a multi-year profit improvement plan in May “designed to accelerate our three fundamental strategies of strengthening brands, growing sales and driving operational efficiencies”.
The company said the plan would dump non-core brands, reduce of excess stock and close underperforming stores.
Quiksilver said it expected the plan to improve its financial performance by around $150 million compared with 2012 results.
