Quik posts Q1 loss, cutting costs

Chairman, CEO and President Bob McKnight also recently told me in an interview the company will have a small number of layoffs as Quiksilver looks to cut costs at its operations around the world.

He said Quiksilver's sales grew so rapidly the last 10 years, costs also increased as the company moved to support that growth. Now, Quiksilver wants to get costs back in alignment and control spending better, he said.

The company will host its conference call tomorrow morning. Here are some highlights from the first quarter:

Total revenue: up 14 percent to $605.3 million

Net loss: $21.9 million loss compared to income of $2.5 million the same period last year.

Global apparel revenue: up 19 percent to $500.5 million. ($27.7 million came from currency exchange rates)

Americas apparel revenue: up 18 percent to $232.9 million.

European apparel revenue: up 19 percent to $205.3 million ($21.4 million came from currency exchange rates)

Asia Pacific apparel revenue: up 19 percent to $61.3 million ($6.3 million from currency exchange rates)

Winter sports equipment revenues: down 2 percent to $104.8 million (offset by favorable exchange rates that added $10.2 million)

Guidance: The company said visibility into revenues and earnings is limited the rest of the year, though consensus estimates of $2.6 billion in full-year revenue and 58 cents in earnings per share should be reachable, Quiksilver said.