Latest Headlines – Page 346

  • Article

    Excess toning footwear stock hits Skechers

    2011-03-04T00:00:00Z

    Skechers is suffering from excess inventories of toning shoes, as demand in this segment is slowing down and new competitors are joining the fray. The management says it could take until the summer for the U.S. company to clean up millions of pairs of unsold toning shoes, largely by cutting ...

  • Article

    Further strong progress at Crocs

    2011-03-04T00:00:00Z

    Crocs beat its own guidance in the fourth quarter of 2010 thanks to the strong performance of its wholesale business, especially in Asia. Group revenues in the quarter increased by 32 percent to $179.2 million, compared with a company forecast of $165 million. The company's chief executive, John McCarvel, said ...

  • Article

    Intersport Greece moves into Turkey

    2011-02-17T00:00:00Z

    Fourlis Holdings announced earlier today the acquisition of 20 of the 28 existing Intersport stores in Turkey, four of them operating as franchises. Fourlis, a large Greek retail conglomerate quoted on the Athens stock exchange, already has the license for Intersport in Greece, Romania, Bulgaria and Cyprus. Fourlis wants to ...

  • Article

    JJB will raise new equity and close more stores

    2011-02-17T00:00:00Z

    The board of directors of JJB Sports has announced a series of proposals to help the struggling British sports retailer to meet its cash flow problems for the short and medium term. A new equity increase would be carried out on Feb. 22 to address the immediate funding needs. This ...

  • Article

    Go Sport invests in differentiation

    2011-02-17T00:00:00Z

    The Go Sport Group's net losses had declined to €1.4 million in 2009, but in 2010 they rose again to €5.9 million, in spite of lower debt levels. The gross margin improved to 41.5 percent last year from 39.9 percent in the previous one, thanks in part to the group's ...

  • Article

    Sport 2000 fares well in Germany

    2011-02-17T00:00:00Z

    Like Intersport Germnay, which reported its main figures last December, the German retail organization of Sport 2000 could report on a good year at the Ispo show. In 2010, the number of its affiliated retailers soared from 793 to 825 including operations of this buying group in Switzerland and Luxembourg, ...

  • Article

    The Cat leaps in the quarter

    2011-02-17T00:00:00Z

    Puma ended the 2010 financial year with a buoyant quarter, enabling it to proclaim that it was “Back on the Attack” – the name given to the five-year plan, outlined by the management last year, to reach sales of at least €4 billion by 2015.Puma's consolidated sales soared by 28.2 ...

  • Article

    Jarden’s Outdoor Solutions grows by 14.4%, margins down

    2011-02-17T00:00:00Z

    A different price mix and higher commodity costs drove the operating margin before amortization (Ebitda) of Jarden Corporation's Outdoor Solutions segment down to 7.9 percent from 9.7 percent in the 4th quarter of 2010, but this was before extraordinary items. As acquisition and integration costs were down to $7.4 million ...

  • Article

    Minority shareholders question Head’s equity increase

    2011-02-17T00:00:00Z

    Head has set the terms of a €9.5 million capital increase which will significantly dilute existing shareholdings and has prompted minority shareholders to complain. The company will offer nearly 200 million new shares to existing shareholders, more than twice the 88 million shares currently in circulation. Under terms of the ...

  • Article

    Burton places Gouzes in charge of international

    2011-02-17T00:00:00Z

    Philippe Gouzes, a Frenchman who has been stationed at the company's European office in Innsbruck for many years, has been promoted to senior vice president of international operations at Burton Snowboards, providing leadership for sales, marketing and product development for all the company's brands outside the U.S. He will have ...

  • Article

    Icepeak’s parent ties up with Li-Ning

    2011-02-17T00:00:00Z

    L-Fashion Group, which markets sports brands such as Luhta, Rukka and Icepeak, has struck an interesting partnership with Li-Ning. The Finnish company, whose sales grew by 10 percent to about €250 million last year, will be the exclusive distributor of the Chinese brand in some European countries: the German-speaking ones, ...

  • Article

    Erke - an interesting alternative to the majors?

    2011-02-17T00:00:00Z

    Erke Sport International, the branded sports apparel and footwear subsidiary of the China Hongxing group, says its business outside China grew by more than 50 percent in 2010 and could double in 2011. In Europe, Erke's sales for the spring/summer season are four times higher than a year ago and ...

  • Article

    Halti develops alpine skiwear powered by Fischer

    2011-02-17T00:00:00Z

    Halti, the leading Finnish brand of sports outerwear, has signed an exclusive license with Fischer Sports for a line of alpine skiwear “powered by Halti” for several years. A few items were presented at the Ispo show in Munich for the next autumn/winter season last week, but the collection will ...

  • Article

    Fischer is making good progress

    2011-02-17T00:00:00Z

    For its current fiscal year ending on Feb. 28, Fischer Sports recorded group sales of over €150 million. This means that the group has been able to exceed its expectations, which were last October for sales of €136.4 for the end of the fiscal year 2010- 11. In comparison to ...

  • Article

    Craft looks to Asia-Pacific for growth

    2011-02-17T00:00:00Z

    The Swedish sports apparel company is deploying its brand in several markets in the Asia-Pacific region. This comes as the company continues to enjoy buoyant growth, with a sales increase of 18 percent to about 980 million Swedish kronor (€111.7m-$150.7m) last year.So far Japan is the only Asian market where ...

  • Article

    Adidas keeps fighting Russian counterfeits

    2011-02-17T00:00:00Z

    Adidas is stepping up its fight against Russian counterfeits by targeting two large-scale footwear retailers in country. Fakes of international sports brands have long been a disruptive issue in Russia's open markets and unorganized trade, but some of the latest trademark claims involve established retailers.Adidas filed a new lawsuit a few ...

  • Article

    Rapala is upbeat

    2011-02-17T00:00:00Z

    The big Finnish-based fishing tackle and winter sports group believes it will again increase revenues and operating profit margins before non-recurrent items this year, as it did in 2010 thanks to a positive trend in the global economy and improving consumer confidence. At the end of December, Rapala's order backlog ...

  • Article

    Indian sports equipment manufacturers introduce foreign brands

    2011-02-17T00:00:00Z

    Several international brands have set up their own subsidiaries in India or sealed distribution and licensing agreements with local partners in the last months. We have recently reported on the likes of Asics to Callaway, Berghaus and Quiksilver, and we are informed of many more companies studying their entry into ...

  • Article

    EDM Publications launches a revamped SGI EUROPE

    2011-02-11T00:00:00Z

    After more than 20 years in the market, we have decided to change the format of our newsletter. It is now more modern and easier to read. The main stories are set in a new typeface on three columns to allow you to read it more quickly, like the pages ...

  • Article

    Ispo gets 25% more visits, revamps logo

    2011-02-11T00:00:00Z

    The 71st Ispo trade show ended in Munich after four days on Feb. 9 with a record increase in attendance. The number of daily passages thr ough the turnstiles jumped by more than 25 percent from a year ago to over 80,000, confirming the fair's role as the leading international ...