Wolverine reaffirms FY23 outlook amid ‘stabilisation phase’ of transformation

Wolverine World Wide (WWW) has reaffirmed its financial outlook for the fiscal year 2023, during which time it said it was expecting full year revenue to hit 2.24 billion dollars, in line with November guidance.

For the fourth quarter of the year, the company said it was forecasting revenues of 527 million dollars, while the gross margin is expected to come in at 36 percent. For the full year, gross margin is forecast to be above 39 percent.

In addition to this, full year and fourth quarter adjusted pre-tax earnings is to be “in line with our expectations”, WWW’s latest filing noted.

As of December 30, 2023, the company is expecting net debt of around 750 million dollars, down from its November guidance of 850 million dollars.

The news comes amid a strategic transformation at the group, which is now in a “stabilisation phase”, according to the company’s president and CEO, Chris Hufnagel.

In a statement, Hufnagel said: “For the fourth quarter and full year, we expect to deliver financial results in line with our guidance – while achieving better-than-anticipated year-end debt and inventory levels.

“Importantly, the performance of our direct-to-consumer business met our expectations for the critical holiday period as well – led by Merrell, Saucony, Sweaty Betty and Wolverine.

“We enter the new year on increasingly firmer footing, and with a focus on furthering our efforts to transform the company into a great builder of global brands, investing in product design and storytelling to fuel future growth, and ultimately, creating greater value for our shareholders.”