• The Wall Street Journal (subscription required), Friday, September 22, 2006 12:15 PM

Nike Inc. says its fiscal-first-quarter profit fell 13 percent, despite revenue gains of 9 percent, because of increased marketing spending around the World Cup soccer tournament and other initiatives, as well as expenses related to stock-options expenses. While Nike CEO Mark Parker says its World Cup "joga bonito" soccer community was a success and touts the company's $1.5 billion in soccer sales, Nike-endorsed teams failed to make it to the finals. The company saw strong growth in areas like Nike Golf and Brand Jordan. Revenue generated by the company's Nike Skate operations more than tripled. Looking ahead, Parker points to initiatives around the 25th anniversary of the Air Force 1 shoe franchise. He says the company is trying to reduce development cycles for products from 18 to 12 months to get products into stores more quickly. Nike has also released several models of lower-priced, fashionable sport shoes to compete with Puma AG and Adidas AG. The first-quarter results include a $40.8 million expense related to stock options granted to company employees. Excluding the stock-option expense, income fell only 3 percent.

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