In-Store Displays Help Skechers Profit Jump 40%

Shoe designer and marketer Skechers U.S.A. Inc. on Thursday said second-quarter earnings rose 40%, meeting the high end of Wall Street estimates, as prominent placement by retailers helped boost sales.

The Manhattan Beach-based marketer of trendy footwear reported net income of $16.8 million, or 44 cents a share, compared with $12 million, or 33 cents a share, a year earlier.

Analysts had expected earnings of 42 to 44 cents per share, said First Call/Thomson Financial.

Sales rose 41% to $230.9 million.

Skechers shares rose 91 cents to close at $21.21 on the New York Stock Exchange.

The company Monday lowered its full-year earnings projection to $1.68 to $1.78 a share from its April forecast of $1.83, but the new range is still up at least 40% from 2000 profit of $1.20 a share.

President Michael Greenberg said the company’s June backlog increased more than 50% and early meetings with retailers in July were positive.

“Our retail accounts are giving Skechers footwear premiere placement in their stores because of Skechers’ ability to become a leader across a broad spectrum of product categories,” Greenberg said.

Other Southern California company earnings:

* Drug wholesaler Bergen Brunswig Corp. said its fiscal third-quarter profit rose 78% to $35.2 million, or 26 cents a share, up from operating income of $19.7 million, or 15 cents, a year earlier. Earnings for the Orange-based firm beat analysts’ estimates. Sales rose 14% to $5.48 billion.

* Edwards Lifesciences Corp., the Irvine maker of medical devices to treat late-stage cardiovascular disease, said second-quarter operating profit rose more than 40% to $17 million, or 28 cents a share, from $12 million, or 20 cents, a year ago, beating estimates. Sales fell 6% to $192.4 million.

* First Consulting Group Inc., a Long Beach-based health industry consultant, reported a second-quarter net loss of $2.9 million, or 13 cents a share, compared with a net loss of $3.9 million, or 16 cents, a year ago. Revenue rose 4% to $66.2 million.

* El Segundo computer chip maker International Rectifier Corp. had a fiscal fourth-quarter loss because of declining sales. It is eliminating 10% of its 5,000 workers.

The loss was $48.8 million, or 78 cents a share, compared with net income of $33.9 million, or 52 cents, a year earlier. Sales fell 20% to $185 million.