Resurgent Billabong enjoying a strong current of favour stirred by 'white knight'

INVESTORS have backed Billabong's new "white knight" as the turnaround specialist to do the job, sending the shares on another upward surge.

Billabong CEO Neil Fiske talks after the Billabong AGM at the Sofitel, Broadbeach. Pic Jono Searle.

INVESTORS have backed Billabong's new "white knight" as the turnaround specialist to do the job, sending the shares on another upward surge yesterday.

Analysts also believe Neil Fiske's seven-point plan to shake up the struggling Gold Coast-based surfwear giant is the right strategy to lift Billabong from its cellar-dweller status and back into the black.

Shares in the iconic global brand hit an intra-day high of 45c yesterday before closing up 11.69 per cent at 43c after more than 12 million shares changed hands.

Nathan Blair, manager of Ord Minnett Gold Coast, said Mr Fiske, who is credited with turning around American retailer Eddie Bauer after its parent company went bankrupt in 2003, had the credentials when it came to saving companies facing financial oblivion.

"Neil Fiske has significant experience and success in developing or turning struggling retail companies and brands around," he said.

"I believe he is capable and the right person for the task."

Mr Blair said while the Billabong brand had "lost a lot of its lustre in the corporate world" it was "far from dead in the eyes of consumers''.

"I spent two hours at the Darwin airport this week and counted 23 items of Billabong or Element clothing on sweaty travellers," he said.

IG's Evan Lucas said Mr Fiske's plan to chop underperforming brands, reduce styles by up to 30 per cent and split its "Big Three'' brands of Billabong, Element and RVCA from the newer emerging brands makes sense.

But he believes the new chief executive's marketing push to make Billabong cool to a younger generation is the key plank on which his strategy could fly or fail.

He also warned a push to greater digital marketing was likely to lead to the loss of bricks and mortar stores and jobs as Billabong becomes "an internet brand''.

"To re-engage the 15 to 18-year-olds he will have to use a greater digital marketing approach," Mr Lucas said.

"Bricks and mortar shops are likely to be culled and there is the likelihood we will see Billabong become more of a manufacturer with a direct link to the consume through digital marketing - that we will see the company turn into an internet brand.

"It is likely they could look to low cost manufacturing in Asia and then market and sell over the internet.

"That will be painful from a social perspective but better for the company's bottom line."

Matt Clayworth from Wilson HTM said Mr Fiske's strategy may be the circuit breaker Billabong needed to get back on track but the company still had major structural issues to overcome.

"He is someone with great turnaround experience and would seem to be the man to bring focus back to the business - it had become way too complex and lost its way," he said.

"Billabong is still generating sales of more than $1 billion, it just needs the right focus to improve margins and shareholder value."