Callaway Climb

2008-04-23

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By Steve Pike

Callaway Golf Company (NYSE: ELY) announced it expects its first quarter sales to be up by 10 percent form the quarter a year ago. The equipment giant estimated its 1Q sales $366 million with earnings in the range of between 59 cents and 61 cents per share, up 25 percent from a year ago.

“The strong sell-in to the retail channel during the first quarter reflects the strength of our brands and the quality of our 2008 product line," said Callaway President George Fellows. “The second quarter will be a better indicator of how successful our year will be as it is driven by consumer purchases of our products and resulting retail reorders. Additionally, we continue to monitor macroeconomic and competitive conditions globally. Contingency plans we have developed this year, along with business process improvements implemented over the past two years, provide us with greater flexibility to adjust to unforeseen circumstances that might impact our business. At this point, we remain optimistic that our full year financial results for 2008 will be significantly higher than in 2007 and will be within our original guidance.”

Callaway is expected to release its official 1Q results on May 1.