12:36 PM EDT on Tuesday, April 27, 2004

By PAUL NOWELL / Associated Press

VF Corp., the giant North Carolina apparel company that makes Lee and Wrangler jeans, posted higher first-quarter earnings on Tuesday, helped in large part by its recent acquisition of Nautica Enterprises.

Based in Greensboro, VF reported earnings of $103.9 million, or 93 cents per share, for the quarter. That's up from $92.1 million, or 83 cents per share, in the same quarter in 2003.

Shares of VF were at $47.55, up 23 cents, in midday trading Tuesday on the New York Stock Exchange.

Meanwhile, VF also announced plans Tuesday to acquire Vans, Inc. for about $396 million in cash, including the cashout of stock options. Vans, which makes shoes for skateboarding and other sports, is based in Santa Fe Springs, Calif. and had sales of $330 million for the year ended May 31, 2003.

"We are very pleased by the strength in sales across our businesses this quarter, and by the momentum we are building for the future, as evidenced by today's exciting announcement," said Mackey McDonald, chairman and chief executive of VF.

Sales rose 15 percent in the quarter to $1.43 billion, up from $1.25 billion in the year-ago period.

Looking ahead, the company said it expects to have a record year in sales and earnings in 2004. Earlier this month, VF announced plans to acquire the Napapijri brand, which McDonald said will eventually become a contributor to VF's bottom line.

"Excluding the impact of the (Vans and Napaijri) acquisitions, we expect sales to rise by as much as 8 percent and earnings to increase by at least 5 percent," McDonald said.

The Vans and Napapijri acquisitions could add $230 million to 2004 sales, he said.

"We are very encouraged by our strong first quarter performance, but we hesitate to take a more aggressive stance toward our guidance at this point, as it is still early in the year," McDonald said.