Latest Headlines – Page 288
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Calida wants control of Lafuma
The Calida Group of Switzerland first invested in Groupe Lafuma last January by acquiring 15.3 percent of the shares and 12.99 percent of the votes at the shareholders' meeting from the family of its chief executive, Philippe Joffard, who has since left. Calida has now proposed to take over Lafuma's ...
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Extra-large growth and targets for XXL
While several Scandinavian sports and outdoor retailers are under pressure, XXL Sport & Villmark has set itself a target to reach sales of 4 billion Norwegian kroner (€491.9m-$663.8m) this year, compared with NOK 3.1 billion in 2012. That was already an increase of nearly 26 percent, while the retailer's operating ...
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Wolverine reports record results, sees big growth ahead
Wolverine Worldwide is projecting an increase in its total reported sales to about $4.1 billion by 2018 from around €2.7 billion this year, implying an annual growth rate of around 8.5 percent. This doesn't include the revenues of its licensees around the world.Together, its two biggest brands, Merrell and Sperry ...
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Focus on Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe has been drawing increasing investment from outdoor companies in the last two years. Yet, two decades after they opened up, some of the markets in this region remain unsettled, requiring a well-informed approach for the outdoor brands to achieve better penetration.Their dynamics and prospects are analyzed in detail ...
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Black Diamond launches many innovations – and announces a recall
Black Diamond is serious about putting together a striking collection of technical snow sports and outdoor apparel. The company has partnered with two top suppliers in the industry, Schoeller and W.L. Gore & Associates.Schoeller, the Swiss manufacturer of high performance fabrics, will supply the U.S. brand with its latest materials ...
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Europe shines again for Nike, not yet China
About 18 months after the start of its European restructuring plan, the Nike Group appears to be entirely back on track in Europe, as its sales increased robustly in nearly all parts of the continent for the quarter to the end of August. The European upswing was part of a ...
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Adidas lowers its guidance again, promotes Auschel
Roland Auschel, chief sales officer of Adidas AG in charge of wholesale operations, became a member of the company's executive board on Oct. 1, with responsibility for global sales through all kinds of channels. Michael Stanier, chief consumer-direct sales officer, and Harm Ohlmeyer, chief e-commerce officer, will report into Auschel ...
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Karstadt Sports falls under new ownership amid rumors on merger with Kaufhof
Nicolas Berggruen, the entrepreneur who acquired Karstadt out of bankruptcy proceedings in 2010, has sold a substantial part of the German department store company's assets to Signa Holding, a Vienna-based investment company specializing in real estate. The deal comprises the sale of 75.1 percent of the shares in Karstadt Sports, the company that ...
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Intersport paves the way for a new Central European conglomerate
The Austrian and German shareholders of Intersport have merged their respective cooperatives into a single organization that groups independent sports retailers in Austria, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary. The original plan was for Intersport Germany to take a majority stake of at least 70 percent in a financially weakened Intersport ...
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SDI makes first major adjustments to its Austrian strategy
Sports Direct International (SDI) is now following up on its financial intervention at SSG, the parent company of Sport Eybl & Sports Experts, the big Austrian retailer, to revitalize the ailing company and reshape it. The British retailer and brands owner bought a strategic stake in that company in June.Basically, ...
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Growing rapidly, Sports Direct joins FTSE 100 index
Sports Direct International has joined the prestigious FTSE 100 benchmark index of the major British stocks after reporting a strong second quarter in an interim statement by the management. Founded in 1982, the company has seen its share value rise to more than £7.00 from £3.00 upon its introduction on ...
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Sports retail powers JD’s results
JD Sports Fashion enjoyed a 111 percent increase in pre-tax income to £6,087 million (€7.293m-$9,865m) for the first half ended on Aug. 3. Gross margins improved to 48.8 percent of sales from 48.4 percent in the year-ago period on 2.0 percent higher sales of £567,370,000 (€679.8m-$919.4m). Operating earnings before exceptional items ...
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Décathlon did not grow as much as we thought
The annual European retail chart that we ran in the last issue of this publication included inaccurate figures for Décathlon's sales increase in four countries. Our estimates were much too high, due to a confusion made by one of our sources between actual sales and same-store sales. In Italy, for ...
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New owners and new challengers for Billabong
As reported in the last issue, two investment companies, Centerbridge Partners and Oaktree Capital, submitted an eleventh-hour proposal on Aug. 23 to rescue Billabong International, after Australia's Takeover Panel objected to some of the terms of a previous offer by Altamont Capital Partners and the Blackstone Group, which had been ...
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Fogliato will run Columbia in Europe
Columbia Sportswear has named Franco Fogliato senior vice president for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) with effect from Nov. 4. As reported in the previous article, Fogliato is on the verge of leaving Billabong International, where he spent nine years after holding various leadership roles at The North ...
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Quiksilver regains ground in Europe
After several rough quarters in Europe, the Quiksilver group lifted both its sales and its gross margin in the region for the three months until the end of July, while the cost savings implemented in the last quarters have started to pay off for the entire company.The group's sales increased ...
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ATK buys Bushnell
Confirming an earlier report about its interest in the company, Alliant Techsystems (ATK), an American conglomerate that is thought to be the world's largest producer of ammunition for various types of weapons, has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Bushnell Group Holdings, the American supplier of performance eyewear, which has been ...
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Zimtstern and Belowzero build new Swiss powerhouse
Sports-Pool AG, the Swiss company behind the Belowzero brand of ski and snowboard apparel, has merged with Zimtstern, another marketer of sports apparel, notably for snow sports, biking and street wear. Zimstern's staff of 17 people will remain on board, but its headquarters in Zurich will move to Belowzero's office ...
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New shareholder for Bizerta
Bizerta Sport, a large-scale Dutch sports brand owner and trading company, has gone through a financial restructuring process that has brought in a new shareholder. Sport Partner reports that the ownership of the company is now split equally between its general manager, Elise Koggink, and Advion, a holding company for ...
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Helly Hansen takes over in Benelux, Germany, Austria and Russia
Helly Hansen has put an end to its distribution and licensing agreement with the Dutch-based Unlimited Sports Group (USG) for the Benelux countries, Germany and Austria. The Norwegian brand has already taken over sales, marketing and distribution in all four markets and it will operate directly in all of them ...
