According to Transworld Business, Quiksilver, Inc. announced that consolidated net revenues from continuing operations for the first quarter of fiscal 2009 decreased 11% to $443.3 million from $496.6 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2008. Ouch.

Bob McKnight, Chairman of the Board, CEO, and President of Quiksilver said in the release: “While our performance in the quarter was in line with our overall expectations, deteriorating macro conditions made for a very difficult operating environment. Weak consumer traffic drove lower sales and margin compression which resulted in a loss for the quarter.”

Macro conditions, my foot. I’m no economist, but a team of fabric concocting scientists can’t be cheap. It’s pretty obvious to this blogger that they invested mega R&D loot on Diamond Dobby and didn’t recognize the expected return on investment on Perfect Stretch.