Winter sport equipment sales fall sharply at Amer Sports
Sales fell 15% at Amer Sports in the fourth quarter to €497.1 million compared with €581.6 million in 2006, largely because of poor winter sports equipment sales.
By business segment, sales for the October to December period were divided as follows: winter and outdoor 61% (winter sports equipment 38%), ball sports 22% and fitness 17%. Net sales fell 21% in winter and outdoor and 4% in ball sports, while fitness net sales increased 3%.
Geographical sales were split as follows: EMEA (Europe, the Middle East and Africa) 47%, the Americas 40% and Asia Pacific 13%. Sales fell 4% in the Americas, 5% in Asia Pacific, and 24% in EMEA.
Meanwhile, sales for full year 2007 fell 8% to €1.65 billion compared with €1.79 billion in 2006. Net sales for the year declined 12% in winter and outdoor and 7% in ball sports, while fitness sales rose 6%.
"The past year was the worst in our recent history due to a steep decline in the demand for winter sports equipment," says president and CEO, Roger Talermo. However, he points out that: "Sales of apparel and footwear, fitness equipment and sports instruments, in particular, continued solid growth."
