Wolverine Worldwide Q1 sales drop 2.5 percent

First quarter revenue of 599.4 million dollars at Wolverine Worldwide declined 2.5 percent versus the prior year and declined 0.5 percent on a constant currency basis.

The company said revenue from the ongoing business was 580.4 million dollars representing constant currency growth of 2.9 percent.

The company's international business rose 12.6 percent or 18 percent on a constant currency basis to 249.7 million dollars. Direct-to-consumer revenue from the ongoing business of 124.9 million dollars was down 7.7 percent compared to the prior year and down 4.4 percent on a constant currency basis.

Gross margin for the quarter was 39.4 percent compared to 42.5 percent in the prior year.

“We are pleased with delivering first quarter results in line with guidance which included 15 percent constant currency revenue growth from our Active Group. Earnings results slightly exceeded our expectations and we made progress on reducing inventory. Our first quarter performance and initiatives we have in place position us to reaffirm our full-year outlook despite a challenging environment," said Brendan Hoffman, the company’s president and CEO in a release.

For fiscal 2023, the company added, revenue from ongoing business is expected to be in the range of 2.53 billion dollars to 2.58 billion dollars, representing growth of approximately 0 percent to 2 percent and constant currency growth of approximately 1 percent to 3 percent.

Gross margin is expected to be approximately 41.3 percent and adjusted gross margin is expected to be approximately 42 percent. Operating margin is expected to be approximately 8.7 percent and adjusted operating margin is expected to be approximately 8.5 percent.

Diluted earnings per share are expected to be between 1.50 dollars to 1.70 dollars and adjusted diluted earnings per share are expected to be between 1.40 dollars to 1.60 dollars.