Quiksilver, once the darling of Huntington Beach industries, ranking just under Boeing for popularity in the city’s attempt to keep their corporate offices in town, has dropped on the S&P to ‘B-’ from B+. What does that mean? Standard & Poor’s (great name, “poor”), ranks companies and their stocks for buying and selling status to consumers and investors. B- rating indicates that Quiksilver Inc. is sinking deeper into junk status (not good). Quiksilver said it extended the maturity of its 55 million
euros ($71) line of credit to June 30 from March 14 to give the company
more time to complete a strategic or refinancing deal.
The clothing and sporting equipment company is striving toward a deal to improve its liquidity and capital structure to meet near-term debt obligations, maintain adequate liquidity, and improve its operating business trends and financial metrics. As of Jan. 31, 2009, the Huntington Beach, Calif.-based company had about $1.4 billion in adjusted debt, S&P said.
Among its notable company investments was the acquisition of Rosignol, which Quiksilver later sold. It also hoped to relocate its corporate offices which it was outgrowing into new digs in Irvine. That move has been tabled, as far as we’ve heard. Even though Irvine sought to gain Quicksilver’s business and offer a better price on space, the move itself would be costly. More to come.
March 18th, 2009 at 11:04 am I wondered when they bought Rosignol if that was a smooth move. They should have stuck with what they had and built on it.
March 18th, 2009 at 11:05 am I used to like Quiksilver products but there have been so many upstarts in California selling items that are similar and cool that I don’t stick with Q any more, especially when I can get things cheaper and help the little guys trying to make a go of it.
March 18th, 2009 at 11:10 am That’s actually a problem for the U.S. as we blaze our way out of this recession. What’s going to stick or resonate with the U.S. audience? Walmart products and even the small mom&pop stores are producing their items offshore. We can’t even buy our own U.S. food, as the FDA lets so many tainted products slip by. I guess the surf industry and clothing apparel (all hurt during recession) have to ride the storm like everyone else. It’s discretionary spending that people don’t have right now and when times are good, we’re all happy. Probably this company should take immediate steps to downsize, pay down the debt, and focus on what made them a success.