Nike Profit Rises 11%, Matching Estimates

Nike Inc., the world’s biggest maker of athletic shoes, said fiscal second-quarter profit rose 11% to $119.4 million, or 44 cents a share, matching analyst estimates. Sales rose 6.7% to $2.2 billion, led by gains overseas. Nike expanded overseas as orders for shoes and clothes in the U.S. declined. Sales rose 20% in Asia, 14% in the Americas, which exclude the U.S., and 2% in Europe. International sales may generate 50% of Nike’s revenue in 2002 compared with about 44% now, said analyst Robert Toomey of Dain Rauscher Wessels. Shares of Nike, based in Beaverton, Ore., rose 88 cents to $47.56 on the New York Stock Exchange. They have fallen 4% this year. Nike reported earnings after U.S. markets closed. Worldwide orders, which indicate orders about five months in advance, fell 1%. That includes a 7% gain in Asia, a 1% increase in Europe and a 4% decline in the U.S. The orders make up about 70% of Nike’s footwear sales, analysts said.