Quiksilver swings to a loss in quarter

Apparel maker Quiksilver Inc. posted a fiscal fourth-quarter loss and set fiscal 2008 and first-quarter targets below Wall Street estimates, sending shares down 11% in extended trading.

The Huntington Beach company said sales and profitability were hurt by ongoing problems in its hardgoods business, which includes skis, snowboards and other winter equipment.

The maker of brands including Quiksilver, Roxy, DC Shoes and Rossignol said it had a net loss of $110.9 million, or 89 cents a share, in the quarter ended Oct. 31, compared with a profit of $65.3 million, or 51 cents, a year earlier.

Excluding special charges, the company posted earnings of 51 cents a share. A Wall Street consensus estimate was 52 cents, according to Reuters Estimates.

The company sold its Cleveland Golf division this week.

Revenue rose 6% to $779.2 million. Analysts, on average, had been expecting $782 million.

For fiscal 2008, the company expects earnings per share of about 70 cents on revenue of $2.7 billion. Wall Street has been expecting earnings of 82 cents on revenue of nearly $2.8 billion, according to Reuters Estimates.

For the first quarter of 2008, Quiksilver said it expected a “small loss” on revenue of about $600 million. Analysts are expecting profit of 7 cents a share on revenue of $611.5 million.

Shares of Quiksilver, which fell nearly 8% to close at $10.17, fell to $9.06 in extended trading.