Nike Profit Climbs 24%

(RTTNews) - Nike Inc. (NKE), the world's largest athletic shoes and apparel maker, said Thursday after the markets closed that its fourth quarter profit rose 24% from last year, helped by higher revenue and improved gross margin amid strong growth in North America.

The company's quarterly earnings per share also came in above analysts' expectations, as did its quarterly revenue.

"Fiscal 2015 was an outstanding year for NIKE," said Mark Parker, President and CEO, Nike, Inc. "Our consistent growth is fueled by our connection to the consumer and our ability to deliver innovation at an unprecedented pace and scale. At no time in our history has the growth potential been greater for NIKE."

Nike shares are currently gaining 2.39% in after hours trading after closing the day's regular trading session at $105.22, down $1.00. The shares trade in a 52-week range of $75.67 to $107.45.

For the fourth quarter ended May 31, 2015, the Beaverton, Oregon-based company reported net income of $865 million or $0.98 per share, compared to $698 million or $0.78 per share for the year-ago quarter.

On average, 26 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to earn $0.83 per share for the fourth quarter.

Gross margin for the quarter improved to 46.2% from 45.6% a year ago, mainly due to higher average selling prices and continued growth in the higher margin Direct to Consumer business.

Revenue for the fourth quarter rose 5% to $7.78 billion from $7.43 billion last year amid continued strong demand for Nike brands, surpassing the $7.69 billion consensus estimate of 23 analysts. In constant currency, the company's fourth quarter revenue rose 13%.

The stronger U.S. dollar not only slowed the company's revenue growth, but also affected its futures orders. As of the end of the fourth quarter, the company's worldwide futures orders for Nike Brand athletic footwear and apparel scheduled for delivery from June through November rose 2%, or 13% excluding currency changes, from a year ago.

For the fourth quarter, Nike brand North America revenue rose 13% to $3.73 billion, while Western Europe revenue fell 3% to $1.27 billion and revenue from Central and Eastern Europe decreased 3% to $360 million. Greater China revenue surged 18% to $829 million and Japan revenue grew 2% to $230 million. Fourth quarter revenue from emerging markets dropped 14% to $934 million.

Footwear revenue for the quarter rose 9% to $4.78 billion, while apparel revenue increased 1% to $2.16 billion.

During the fourth quarter, Nike repurchased 6.8 million shares of its common stock for about $678 million as part of the four-year, $8.0 billion program approved by the company's Board of Directors in September 2012. As of the end of fiscal 2015, a total of 80.9 million shares had been repurchased under that program for about $6.0 billion.

Earlier this month, Nike announced an eight-year global merchandising and marketing partnership with the National Basketball Association that will make Nike the official oncourt apparel provider beginning with the 2017-18 NBA season.