With a warm winter and a difficult U.S. marketplace to contend with in its seasonally strong final quarter of the year, Columbia Sportswear reported a 27% drop in operating income to $113.1 million from $155.4 million and a 9% decline in total revenues to $1.06 billion from $1.17 billion for the period ended Dec. 31. Net income was down 26% to $93.3 million from $125.7 million but gross margin improved by 20 basis points to 50.6% on lower freight costs and favorable channel mix.

Anticipating a challenging year ahead due to high ... Log in to view full article.