Nike Inc. reported Monday that first-quarter profit grew 32 percent as the world's largest shoemaker posted sales gains across all regions and product units, particularly in the United States.
Quarterly earnings rose to $432.3 million, or $1.61 per share, from $326.8 million, or $1.21 per share, a year earlier. Revenue climbed 8 percent to $3.86 billion from $3.56 billion last year.
Analysts expected the company to earn $1.42 per share on revenue of $3.82 billion, according to a Thomson Financial survey.
"A strong product pipeline and our global management team's ability to consistently execute across our brand portfolio drove very strong performance for the first quarter," said William D. Perez, president and chief executive, in a statement. "Our results show continued healthy demand for Nike product worldwide and we remain optimistic about our ability to meet our future goals."
The company said worldwide futures orders grew 11 percent to $4.9 billion for athletic footwear and apparel scheduled for delivery from September through January 2006. Currency exchange rates had no significant impact on that growth, Nike said.
