Costa Mesa-based clothing designer Volcom Inc. warned of a big shortfall in profits and sales for the current quarter after reporting mixed results for the fourth quarter.
The company, which designs clothes inspired by surfing, skateboarding and music, projected a profit of $3.1 million to $3.9 million for the current quarter, well below the $6.3 million analysts had been forecasting.
Sales are seen coming in at $62 million to $65 million, versus the $75.4 million Wall Street had been expecting on average.
The company also said it wouldn’t be providing a full-year forecast for 2009 “until such time when it has better clarity into its business.”
Shares of Volcom were off 10% in afterhours trading on a market value of about $200 million.
Volcom “continues to operate in a weak economic environment,” the company said.
Like other clothing makers, Volcom faces the worst retail downturn in recent memory.
Results for the fourth quarter were mixed.
Sales came in flat from a year earlier at $69.6 million and just ahead of the $68.5 million analysts had expected.
Sales in the U.S., Canada and Japan were down 7% from a year earlier. Sales in Europe, where Volcom has made a big push in recent years, were up 7% to $10.9 million.
The company’s adjusted net income was $3.3 million, down 57% from a year earlier.
Wall Street on average had expected $3.9 million in profits, though Volcom’s earnings were just shy of the low end of expectations.
The company said it has cut jobs, salaries and other spending to deal with the downturn.
