Basis of Presentation (Policies)

3 Months Ended

Jan. 31, 2014

Accounting Policies [Abstract]

Basis of Presentation

The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles for interim financial information and with the instructions to Form 10-Q and Rule 10-01 of Regulation S-X. Accordingly, they do not include all of the information and footnotes required by generally accepted accounting principles for complete financial statement presentation.

New Accounting Pronouncements

In July 2013, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2013-11, “Presentation of an Unrecognized Tax Benefit When a Net Operating Loss Carryforward, a Similar Tax Loss, or a Tax Credit Carryforward Exists.” ASU 2013-11 provides guidance on the presentation of unrecognized tax benefits, reflecting the manner in which an entity would settle, at the reporting date, any additional income taxes that would result from the disallowance of a tax position when net operating loss carryforwards, similar tax losses, or tax credit carryforwards exist. This accounting standard will be effective for the Company beginning November 1, 2014, with early adoption permitted. The Company did early adopt this guidance effective November 1, 2013 and the adoption did not have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial position or results of operations.

Operating Segments

Operating segments are defined as components of an enterprise about which separate financial information is available that is evaluated regularly by the Company’s chief operating decision maker in deciding how to allocate resources and in assessing performance. The Company operates in the outdoor market of the action sports industry in which the Company designs, markets and distributes apparel, footwear, accessories and related products. The Company currently operates in four segments: the Americas, EMEA, and APAC, each of which sells a full range of the Company’s products, as well as Corporate Operations. The Americas segment, consisting of North, South and Central America, includes revenues primarily from the United States, Canada, Brazil and Mexico. The EMEA segment, consisting of Europe, the Middle East and Africa, includes revenues primarily from continental Europe, the United Kingdom, Russia and South Africa. The APAC segment, consisting of Asia and the Pacific Rim, includes revenues primarily from Australia, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, Taiwan and Indonesia. Costs that support all segments, including trademark protection, trademark maintenance and licensing functions, are part of Corporate Operations. Corporate Operations also includes sourcing income and gross profit earned from the Company’s licensees.

Earnings per Share and Stock-Based Compensation

The Company reports basic and diluted earnings per share (“EPS”). Basic EPS is based on the weighted average number of shares outstanding during the period, while diluted EPS additionally includes the dilutive effect of the Company’s outstanding stock options, warrants and shares of restricted stock computed using the treasury stock method.

Income Taxes

Each reporting period, the Company evaluates the realizability of all of its deferred tax assets in each tax jurisdiction. As of January 31, 2014, the Company continued to maintain a full valuation allowance against its net deferred tax assets in certain jurisdictions in each of its four operating segments due to sustained taxable losses. As a result of the valuation allowances recorded, no tax benefits have been recognized for losses incurred in those tax jurisdictions.

The Company’s sale of the Mervin and Hawk businesses generated income tax expense of approximately $10 million within discontinued operations during the first quarter of fiscal 2014. However, as the Company does not expect to pay income tax after application of available loss carryforwards, an offsetting income tax benefit was recognized within continuing operations. Before this tax benefit, the Company generated income tax expense in the first quarter of fiscal 2014 and 2013 due to being unable to record tax benefits against the losses in certain jurisdictions where we have previously recorded valuation allowances.  

During the next 12 months, it is reasonably possible that the Company’s liability for uncertain tax positions may change by a significant amount as a result of the resolution or payment of uncertain tax positions. The Company believes the outcomes which are reasonably possible within the next 12 months range from a reduction of the liability for unrecognized tax benefits of $9 million to an increase of the liability of $2 million, excluding penalties and interest for its existing tax positions.

Derivatives and Hedging

The Company is exposed to gains and losses resulting from fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates relating to certain sales, royalty income and product purchases of its international subsidiaries that are denominated in currencies other than their functional currencies. The Company is also exposed to foreign currency gains and losses resulting from domestic transactions that are not denominated in U.S. dollars. Furthermore, the Company is exposed to gains and losses resulting from the effect that fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates have on the reported results in the Company’s consolidated financial statements due to the translation of the operating results and financial position of the Company’s international subsidiaries. As part of its overall strategy to manage the level of exposure to the risk of fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates, the Company uses various foreign currency exchange contracts and intercompany loans.

The Company accounts for all of its cash flow hedges under ASC 815, “Derivatives and Hedging,” which requires companies to recognize all derivative instruments as either assets or liabilities at fair value in the consolidated balance sheet. In accordance with ASC 815, the Company designates forward contracts as cash flow hedges of forecasted purchases of commodities.

For derivative instruments that are designated and qualify as cash flow hedges, the effective portion of the gain or loss on the derivative is reported as a component of other comprehensive income (“OCI”) and reclassified into earnings in the same period or periods during which the hedged transaction affects earnings. Gains and losses on the derivative representing either hedge ineffectiveness or hedge components excluded from the assessment of effectiveness are recognized in current earnings. As of January 31, 2014, the Company was hedging forecasted transactions expected to occur through June 2015. Assuming January 31, 2014 exchange rates remain constant, $2 million of gains, net of tax, related to hedges of these transactions are expected to be reclassified into earnings over the next 17 months.

On the date the Company enters into a derivative contract, management designates the derivative as a hedge of the identified exposure. Before entering into various hedge transactions, the Company formally documents all relationships between hedging instruments and hedged items, as well as the risk-management objective and strategy. In this documentation, the Company identifies the asset, liability, firm commitment, or forecasted transaction that has been designated as a hedged item and indicates how the hedging instrument is expected to hedge the risks related to the hedged item. The Company formally measures effectiveness of its hedging relationships both at the hedge inception and on an ongoing basis in accordance with its risk management policy. The Company would discontinue hedge accounting prospectively (i) if management determines that the derivative is no longer effective in offsetting changes in the cash flows of a hedged item, (ii) when the derivative expires or is sold, terminated, or exercised, (iii) if it becomes probable that the forecasted transaction being hedged by the derivative will not occur, (iv) if a hedged firm commitment no longer meets the definition of a firm commitment, or (v) if management determines that designation of the derivative as a hedge instrument is no longer appropriate. As a result of the expiration, sale, termination, or exercise of derivative contracts, the Company reclassified into earnings a net loss of $0.2 million for the quarter ended January 31, 2014, and a net gain of $1 million for the quarter ended January 31, 2013.

The Company enters into forward exchange and other derivative contracts with major banks and is exposed to exchange rate losses in the event of nonperformance by these banks. The Company anticipates, however, that these banks will be able to fully satisfy their obligations under the contracts. Accordingly, the Company does not require collateral or other security to support the contracts.

Fair Value Measurements

ASC 820, “Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures,” defines fair value as the exchange price that would be received for an asset or paid to transfer a liability (an exit price) in the principal or most advantageous market for the asset or liability in an orderly transaction between market participants on the measurement date. ASC 820 requires that valuation techniques maximize the use of observable inputs and minimize the use of unobservable inputs. ASC 820 also establishes a fair value hierarchy which prioritizes the valuation inputs into three broad levels. Based on the underlying inputs, each fair value measurement in its entirety is reported in one of the three levels. These levels are:

• Level 1 – Valuation is based upon quoted prices for identical instruments traded in active markets. Level 1 assets and liabilities include debt and equity securities traded in an active exchange market, as well as U.S. Treasury securities.

• Level 2 – Valuation is based upon quoted prices for similar instruments in active markets, quoted prices for identical or similar instruments in markets that are not active, and model based valuation techniques for which all significant assumptions are observable in the market or can be corroborated by observable market data for substantially the full term of the assets or liabilities.

• Level 3 – Valuation is determined using model-based techniques with significant assumptions not observable in the market. These unobservable assumptions reflect the Company’s own estimates of assumptions that market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability. Valuation techniques include the use of third party pricing services, option-pricing models, discounted cash flow models and similar techniques.

The Company’s derivative assets and liabilities include foreign exchange derivatives that are measured at fair value using observable market inputs such as forward rates, interest rates, the Company’s credit risk and the Company’s counterparties’ credit risks. Based on these inputs, the Company’s derivative assets and liabilities are classified within Level 2 of the valuation hierarchy.