"Skechers' ability to deliver record quarterly sales of 1.88 billion US dollars was a significant accomplishment, reflecting the ongoing global demand for our comfort technology products, which resulted in double-digit growth in our Wholesale and Direct-to-Consumer segments. All regions grew, led by EMEA with improvements of 48% as we realized growth across our largest European subsidiaries - Germany, Spain, and the United Kingdom, as well as strong distributor growth. The Americas achieved 16% growth, primarily due to robust demand in the United States and Canada. In APAC, we experienced growth of 9%, which we are particularly pleased with given the COVID-related challenges in China and Japan during the quarter", commented David Weinberg, Chief Operating Officer of Skechers.

Third Quarter Results

In the third quarter of the current fiscal year, Skechers reported a sales growth of 20.5%, reaching 1.88 billion US dollars, as a result of a 14.9% increase domestically and a 24.6% increase internationally, on a comparable basis to the same period of last fiscal year; on a constant currency basis, sales grew by 27.3%.

Wholesale sales in the third quarter were up by 26.2%, led by increased in the EMEA* (by 58.5%) and America regions (18.1%), as compared to the same quarter of 2021. Direct-to-Consumer sales grew by 11.9% in this period, as compared to a similar period of last year, driven by the performances in America (up by 13.8%) and APAC** (up by 10.1%).

In the three months to the 30^th of September, the company's gross margin stood at 47.1%, declining by 280 basis points, as compared to the third quarter of 2021, as a result "of increased freight and logistics costs, and a higher proportion of distributor sales, partially offset by average selling price increases".

Net earnings totalled 85.9 million US dollars this third quarter, and diluted earnings per share were 0.55 US dollars, which indicates a decrease of 16.7%, year-over-year (diluted earnings per share include an unfavourable impact of 0.09 US dollars due to declines in foreign exchange rates, primarily in EMEA).

Year-to-Date

As of the 30^th of September, Skechers' sales rose by 19.6%, amounting to 5.57 billion US dollars, reflecting a 19.3% increase domestically and a 19.8% increase internationally, as compared to the same period of last year; on a constant currency basis, the company's total sales increased by 23.8%. In these nine months, wholesale sales grew by 25.6%, while Direct-to-Consumer sales were up by 10.0%.

In the first nine months of 2021, net earnings totalled 297.5 million US dollars, and diluted earnings per share were 1.90 US dollars, which shows a decline of 12.4% over the same period of the prior year. Diluted earnings per share include an unfavourable impact of 0.23 US dollars due to declines in foreign exchange rates, primarily in EMEA.

Fourth Quarter Outlook

For the fourth quarter of the year, Skechers is expecting to achieve sales between 1.73 billion US dollars and 1.76 billion US dollars, and diluted earnings per share of between 0.30 US dollars and 0.40 US dollars.