In the fourth quarter ended last Dec. 31, sales increases of 37.7 percent for Ugg and 45.9 percent for Teva led to a surge of 40.4 percent to $603.9 million in Deckers Outdoor Corporation's total sales. The group's revenues rose by 21.0 percent in the U.S. during the latest quarter, but outside the U.S., they soared by 178.6 percent to $147.6 million. The management attributed the company's strong international growth to the recent takeover of the distribution for all the Deckers brands in the U.K., Ireland and the Benelux countries. Local press reports point to major progress also in France, where the group set up its own subsidiary one year ago. Somewhat like Ugg (and Crocs, by the way), Teva also benefited last year from the expansion of its product range, which is now offering a larger variety of attractive closed-toe shoes. In spite of lower gross margins, Deckers managed to post increases in net earnings for the fourth quarter and the full year. They went up to $127.2 million and to $201.8 million, respectively. Because of pressure on gross margins, earnings are expected to be flat this year, but revenues should increase by 15 percent after last year's growth of 37.6 percent to $1,377 million.

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