Vans Reports Loss of $37 Million for Fiscal Year : Manufacturing: Shoe company’s results include $36.3-million charge for closure of plant in Orange.

ORANGE —  Vans Inc., which on Monday closed its troubled shoe manufacturing plant in Orange, reported a $37.1-million net loss, or $3.86 per share, for the fiscal year ended May 31.

The loss included $36.3 million in fourth-quarter charges related to the plant closing. Revenue rose 10% to $88 million from $80 million a year earlier.

Vans reported a $38.9-million net loss, or $4.04 per share, for the fourth quarter ended May 31. The loss included a $20-million write-down of goods associated with the recent plant closing, a $10-million restructuring charge driven by the closing and a $6.3-million write-down on inventory.

Quarterly sales rose 7.4% to $24.6 million from $22.9 million a year earlier.

Vans blamed environmental regulations and stiff overseas competition on May 31 when it announced that its aging plant in Orange would be closed. About 1,000 employees lost their jobs and Vans shifted its remaining domestic production to a newer plant in Vista in Northern San Diego County.

The company said the closing was driven by its inability to manufacture its increasingly popular International Collection line of shoes in the United States. The company is importing those shoes from independent manufacturers overseas.

Union leaders have alleged that Vans’ management closed the plant to stymie a union-organizing drive by Teamsters Union Local 396 in Anaheim. Vans’ managers said that the plant closing was driven solely by economics.

In May, company officials said they would take at least a $35-million write-off in connection with the plant closing. “There are no surprises,” Walter Schoenfeld, Vans president and chief executive, said of Monday’s announcement. “The numbers are pretty much what we said earlier.”

Vans reported that it has entered escrow to sell the aging Orange plant complex for $5.6 million to an unidentified buyer. Schoenfeld declined to name the buyer, and local civic leaders said they weren’t aware that a potential buyer had surfaced.

“We hope it’s a manufacturer, not just someone who wants it for speculation purposes,” said Brent Hunter, executive director of the City of Orange Chamber of Commerce. “We knew that two [prospective buyers] had shown an interest, but it evidently didn’t meet their needs. So it’s good to hear there’s a potential buyer.”

While the company has been struggling to turn a profit, its shoe sales have continued to grow. Schoenfeld tied the sales increases to “the continuing acceptance of the Vans brand on a national and international level . . . [and] the success of our imported men’s International Collection.”

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Vans Inc. Reports Loss

For the fiscal year ended May 31, Vans Inc. reported a loss of $37.1 million on revenue of $88.1 million. The company attributed the loss to a $36.3-million restructuring charge related to the closure of its Orange manufacturing facility. Figures in millions of dollars, except per-share data:

4th qtr 4th qtr Fiscal year Fiscal year 1994 1995 1994 1995 Revenue $22.9 $25.0 $80.5 $88.1 Net income (loss) .9 (38.9) 1.4 (37.1) Per share (loss) 0.09 (4.04) 0.14 (3.86)

Source: Vans Inc.; Researched by JANICE L. JONES / Los Angeles Times