CITYSCAPE ROUNDUP:Quiksilver earnings jump 94%

Huntington Beach’s second-biggest employer, Quiksilver Inc., reported a 94% jump in its net income and a 22% increase in sales for the quarter ended Oct. 28.

The sports apparel and gear maker said its net income in the fourth quarter increased from $33.6 million to $65.3 million, thanks to the turnaround of French ski maker Skis Rossignol, which Quiksilver bought in 2005.

Quiksilver’s gross sales rose 22%, to $778.4 million, exceeding analysts’ expectations of $747.5 million as well as beating the company’s forecast of $745 million to $750 million.

“[With] the Rossignol acquisition now firmly under our belt, we have re-created ourselves as a unified organization and have begun to fulfill our vision as the world’s leading outdoor sports company,” Quiksilver Chief Executive Robert B. McKnight Jr. said in a news release.

Quiksilver bought Rossignol in July 2005 for $314 million and added ski apparel to Rossignol’s lineup. The French company is well known for making ski gear but had been losing money and market share when it was bought by Quiksilver.

Rossignol’s seasonal business has a positive effect on the company’s first and fourth quarters but a negative effect when its sales drop in the off-season, typically the second and third quarters, the company said in a news release.

Silva appointed to high-profile committee

Assemblyman Jim Silva of Huntington Beach got a flying start to his stint in Sacramento with an appointment as vice chair of the assembly committee on jobs, economic development and the economy for the 2007-08 session. The committee explores ways to improve the business climate in California.

Silva, who served his last term on the Orange County Board of Supervisors this year, was sworn in recently as the state Assembly member from the 67th district.

“It is critical to California’s economy that the state continues to attract and retain businesses both small and large, expanding job opportunities for Californians,” Silva said in a news release.

The assembly committee’s purview includes business advocacy within the state and nation as well as in the import/export trade. It also means working with small-business development and operations, state and local economic development, women and minority business enterprises and relations between California and Mexico.

Silva said he will work to make sure the state will continue to be a strong economy in the years to come. He also said he will work with “Republicans and Democrats alike in addressing important issues surrounding the state’s economic interests.”

Besides working on the effects of the federal budget on California, the committee will also look at development and expansion of information technology and foreign investments.

Silva also announced his new digs in Huntington Beach. His office is set to open at 17011 Beach Blvd., Suite 570. Silva is set to start work in January, when the Assembly begins its session, flying to Sacramento from Monday through Thursday. He will fly back to be with his family through the weekend and meet people from the district.

The 67th district includes Alamitos, Anaheim, Cypress, Garden Grove, Huntington Beach, La Palma, Los Alamitos, Seal Beach, Stanton and Westminster.

Toy donations running low in Orange County

Firefighters’ Spark of Love toy drive has seen its usual number of donations in Huntington Beach, but elsewhere in the county toy bins are fall from full.

“Every year, the number of needy families grows, maybe because the cost of living in Orange County is so high,” Huntington Beach Fire Department spokeswoman Martha Werth said. This could be the reason donations seem to be coming up short, she added.

Whether donated to the Toys for Tots run by the Marines or the Fire Department’s Spark of Love, all the donated toys in Orange County end up in the same storage facility to be distributed. The Orange County Toy Collaborative Warehouse pools all the gifts so as not to duplicate the different charity efforts. About 350,000 toys are needed, and only about half of the orders have been filled, Werth said.

Gifts for older kids between 12 and 16 are in particularly short supply, she said.

“People tend to buy things for the younger children,” Werth said. Her recommendations: look for sports equipment, movie tickets, music, portable CD players for boys and makeup accessories for girls.

If you have children that age, think of what you would buy for them, or even take them shopping with you, Werth added.

St. Vincent de Paul, the organization that warehouses and distributes the gifts in Orange County, has families fill out applications so specific donation needs can be assessed. Boxes wait to be filled with donations at each of the eight fire stations in the city and at City Hall, the Police Station and the Central Library. Visit the city’s website, www.ci.huntington-beach.ca.us for addresses and locations of drop-off points.