In a preliminary statement, Steve Madden announced a sales increase of 8.3 percent to $364.4 million for its net sales during the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31. The turnover was boosted by the company's recent acquisition of Schwartz & Benjamin, which helped lift Madden's wholesale revenues by 10.6 percent to $878.2 million. Without it, they would have risen by 2.5 percent to $257.9 million. Retail revenues went up by 1.5 percent to $86.2 million in the quarter, but they were down by 5.1 percent on a same-store basis.
The company indicated that its net earnings for 2017 will come out to be at the high end of its latest projections. Revenues went up by 10.5 percent to around $1.5 billion for the full financial year, with increases of 12.1 percent at wholesale and 3.6 percent at retail.
Wholesale revenues reached $1.3 billion, and they would have still risen by 5.0 percent to $1.2 billion without the contribution from Schwartz & Benjamin. Retail sales of $272.2 million came with a drop of 3.2 percent on a comparable store basis, which the management attributed to softness in the boot segment.