Latest Headlines – Page 297
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Prince reorganizes sales functions
Prince Global Sports has been rejigging its management structure and reviewing some of its international distribution in the last few months, since the tennis and squash brand ended up with a new committed owner and a debt-free status that has enabled it to resume its investments.The changes are led by ...
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Billabong keeps the market guessing
The guessing game over Billabong International's future ownership is not yet finished. One week ago, the Australian company said that its board of directors was giving itself ten working days to examine the latest nonbinding offer from a consortium led by Sycamore Partners, the private equity fund that has been ...
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Wolverine's sales double
Wolverine Worldwide reported today a doubling in its quarterly revenues to $645.9 million for the period ended on March 31 thanks to its acquisition last October of Sperry Top-Sider, Saucony, Stride Rite and Keds. On a pro forma basis, assuming that it owned them already at the beginning of 2012, ...
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Lululemon dismisses its product czar
While making serious strides into the international market, Lululemon Athletica dismissed Sheree Waterson, who has been the chief product officer of the Canadian company since 2008, as part of a reorganization of its supply chain. Her departure has been widely linked to bad publicity about the recall of a style ...
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Direct Golf UK secures £3.5 million from RBS
Direct Golf UK announced that it has a £3.5 million (€4.1m-$5.4m) funding package backed by the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS). The British multichannel retailer for golf equipment had been seeking funds to reduce pressure on its cash flow, due to its aggressive retail openings in the last few years. ...
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Yue Yuen's OEM operations do better than retail
The world's largest shoe manufacturer has reported relatively stable profit margins for its latest financial year, which was stretched to 15 months, ending last Dec. 31, to make it coincide with the calendar year. Rises in raw material costs and factory wages, which are partly based on the workers' performance, ...
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Rejig in Indian distribution deals
Following the example of several other Indian sporting goods manufacturers, Mayor World is the latest producer to have become active in distribution of international brands in India and neighboring countries. It has restructured its business in the last two years and obtained deals with Slazenger as well as Gola, Lonsdale ...
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Shifts in Brazilian sports footwear consumption
Global brands enlarged their share in running and football footwear in Brazil last year, judging from a presentation held by GfK in São Paulo at a conference on consumer choices. But in the overall sports shoe market, the share of the Brazilian brands increased by 1.5 percentage points to 47 ...
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Alpargatas’ sports shoes grow in Brazil, shrink in Argentina
In 2012, Alpargatas sold 9,501,000 pairs of athletic shoes in Brazil under the Topper, Rainha, Mizuno and Timberland brands, or 11.8 percent more than in the prior year, with year-on-year growth of 25.2 percent in the fourth quarter. On the other hand, Alpargatas sales of athletic shoes in Argentina fell ...
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WFSGI calls on the WHO to curb physical inactivity
The World Federation of the Sporting Goods Industry (WFSGI) has submitted proposals in behalf of the sporting goods industry to the World Health Organization (WHO) to include the promotion of physical activity in its 2013-20 global action plan for the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases (NCDs). The trade organization ...
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Intersport Germany is in line to invest in Intersport Austria
Intersport Germany, the largest single cooperative of sporting goods retailers licensed by Intersport International Corporation (IIC), has signed a letter of intent for the acquisition of a majority stake in Intersport Austria, forming an even stronger supra-national nucleus within the organization.Together, Intersport Germany and Intersport Austria represent the interests of ...
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Eybl's chief resigns, speculation mounts about its fate
Rolf Frischknecht stepped down last week from his role as the only remaining member of the executive board of Sport Eybl & Sports Experts, along with Ewald Halbedl, managing director. The two have been replaced by a pair of top executives, Mike Weccardt and Hubert Schenk. Weccardt has been with ...
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Metro is happier with Kaufhof than with other parts of the family
It rarely happens that Metro AG, the big German cash & carry and retail operator, is pleased with the performance of Galeria Kaufhof, its chain of department stores and sports shops. But Olaf Koch, Metro's chief executive, even said this time, “Kaufhof was super.” As reported earlier this year, when ...
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China mars a robust quarter for Nike
Slumping sales in China were the most significant drag in yet another impressive quarter for the Nike brand. Its Chinese sales declined by 10 percent in constant currencies for the three months until the end of February, as the company continued to clean up inventories with discounts that battered its ...
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Buoyant racquet sports make up for a weak winter at Head
Head saw its sales inch up by 1.2 percent to €343.2 million last year, as buoyant sales of racquet sports products made up for a decline in the Austrian group's winter sports sales. Still, its turnover would have dropped by 1.6 percent in constant currencies.Sales of winter sports products were ...
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Elan's Austrian factory files for bankruptcy
The subsidiary of Elan that has been running its snowboard factory in Fürnitz has filed for bankruptcy. The plant, which employs 78 people, has suffered from heightened costs for raw materials and the loss of OEM production assignments. Reportedly, the manufacturing facility made only 10 percent of its volume with Elan-branded products, whereas ...
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Strong results for Swix despite weak winter
Despite a somewhat sluggish winter, Swix Sports recorded solid results and good growth during 2012. Swix achieved a turnover of NOK 689 million Norwegian kroner (€91.6m-$117.5m) in 2012 and Ebitda of NOK 51 million (€6.8m-$8.7m). The corresponding figures for Swix in 2011 were NOK 604 million and NOK 69 million, ...
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Li Ning posts its first loss since going public
Li Ning Company is moving ahead with fundamental adjustments to its sales and distribution structure, which pummeled the results of the leading Chinese sports group last year. It ended the year with a loss of 1,955.4 million yuan renminbi (€245m-$314m), compared with a profit of nearly RMB411 million in 2011.Li ...
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Belle’s sales rise more slowly and profit margins slip
Belle International Holdings, the leading footwear and sports retailer in China, lifted its sales by 13.5 percent to RMB32,859 million (€4,117m-$5,282m) last year, but the group's profit margins slipped as the retailer suffered from higher staff and rental costs.Belle is involved throughout the supply chain in the footwear market but ...
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China Dongxiang's sales drop by 35% but profit rises by 74%
China Dongxiang performed even worse than Li Ning Company in terms of revenues. It recorded a 35.4 percent decline in group sales to 1,772 million yuan renminbi (€222m-$285m) for the year ended last Dec. 31. Sales in Japan were down by only about 4 percent in yen. Instead, sales in China ...
