Latest Headlines – Page 452

  • Article

    Karstadt Restructures Mail Order Operations After A Bad Quarter

    2006-11-29T00:00:00Z

    Karstadt-Quelle will keep and develop certain parts of its largest mail order business, Quelle, while stopping its operations in Belgium and the Netherlands at the beginning of 2007 and selling those it has in France, Portugal and Spain. It will also dispose of some of its 18 specialty mail order ...

  • Article

    Cerberus May Want To Cash Out Of Fila

    2006-11-29T00:00:00Z

    Cerberus Capital Management, which acquired Fila Sport in mid-2003 for $351 million including assumption of debt, has reportedly signed up Goldman Sachs and a Rothschild company to make a valuation of Fila and of its holding company, Sport Brands International, in view of their possible sale. According to a report ...

  • Article

    Arena Will Close Its French Factory

    2006-11-29T00:00:00Z

    Arena Technologies Development & Production (Arena TDP), a subsidiary of the Arena Group that manufactures almost 60 percent of the elastic swimwear products with the help of Tunisian subcontractors, is expected to close its doors by next March. The company, which fell under the control of a new institutional investor ...

  • Article

    Accell Acquires Another Fitness Firm

    2006-11-29T00:00:00Z

    Accell, the growing Dutch-based cycling and fitness equipment group, has acquired Webena, a Dutch specialist in small fitness accessories to complement its own range of larger fitness equipment, sold under such brands as Tunturi and Bremshey. Webena gets an annual turnover of roughly €3.5 million from the sale of more ...

  • Article

    Icon Reshuffles Its European Team

    2006-11-29T00:00:00Z

    Icon Health & Fitness disagrees with Accell Group’s claim that the latter has become the second-largest supplier of home fitness equipment on the European market after Kettler, racing past the American group. Icon’s European management says the company is set to reach sales of €73-74 million in the four European ...

  • Article

    Admiral Returns To The British Sporting Goods Retail Market

    2006-11-29T00:00:00Z

    International Brand Licensing (IBL), which inherited the rights to this venerable British team sports brand from the late Lance Yates, has signed a licensing deal with Sondico for team sports clothing and equipment to be sold in sporting goods stores in the UK and Ireland, starting next Spring. Sondico, which ...

  • Article

    Body Glove Finds A New European Licensee

    2006-11-29T00:00:00Z

    After several disappointments, the European license for Body Glove has been picked up by Pro Sports Club, a fast-moving Dutch sports retailer and supplier. The company obtained a European license for apparel, footwear and textile-related accessories bearing the Californian surf brand earlier this year, and it has started to build ...

  • Article

    Basicnet Swings Into A Loss For The Quarter

    2006-11-29T00:00:00Z

    BasicNet booked a net loss in the third quarter, as the company was bogged down by higher production and general costs. Net revenues were virtually flat at €20.66 million compared with €20.53 million for the same period a year ago, while production costs rose to €13.99 million from €12.04 million. ...

  • Article

    Fenix Outdoor Continues To Generate Better Results

    2006-11-29T00:00:00Z

    Represented by its Naturkompaniet stores, the retail operations of the Swedish group are performing particularly well, with a 23 percent increase in comparable store sales during the 3rd quarter in spite of mild weather conditions. Attributing the continuously positive score to a deeper and broader assortment and to good investments ...

  • Article

    Eddie Bauer Finds Buyers After Reporting Significant Losses

    2006-11-29T00:00:00Z

    In a deal valued at $614 million, Eddie Bauer will be bought by Golden Gate Capital Partners and affiliates of Sun Capital Partners. Repayments of $328 million in debt and $286 million in cash are included in the acquisition, which is expected to be completed in the 1st quarter of ...

  • Article

    Eu Enlargement Helps Diverters

    2006-11-29T00:00:00Z

    The enlargement of the European Union makes it easier for sporting goods brands to find their way into such countries as Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary, but it also makes it easier for discount supermarket chains that usually have no access to branded products to satisfy their needs in ...

  • Article

    Two British Buying Groups Amalgamate...

    2006-11-10T00:00:00Z

     The Sports Traders Alliance Group (STAG) is going back to its roots by merging with another British buying group, Sports & Leisure UK (S&LUK), which will cease to exist by the end of this year. The merger will create a bigger buying group with about 400 retail members and 570 ...

  • Article

    Sport 2000 Woes German Members With New Efficiency Program

    2006-11-10T00:00:00Z

    A buying group is not only meant to offer better purchasing conditions and access to exclusive products, or as a marketing tool around an easily recognizable banner. The German Sport 2000 group is now proposing to its members to devote more of their time to the job of selling the ...

  • Article

    Adidas Pushes The Reebok Brand To Offset A Delay In Its Turnaround

    2006-11-10T00:00:00Z

    The Adidas brand scored relatively well in the 3rd quarter, but the Reebok brand performed disappointingly, dragging down the group’s overall results and leading to group to forecast an increase of only about 15 percent in next year’s net profit, down from a previously anticipated 20 percent increase.The previously set ...

  • Article

    Drop In Puma’S Net Is Lower Than Expected

    2006-11-10T00:00:00Z

    Puma is taking numerous new initiatives to help sustain its growth, which is flattening out now in the USA as well as in Europe. Profit margins were higher than expected in the 3rd quarter, however, leading to a drop in net income of only 5.2 percent to €87.1 million in ...

  • Article

    Buoyant Winter Sports And Diving Businesses Lift Head’S Results

    2006-11-10T00:00:00Z

    Head’s operating and net income soared by more than 60 percent in the 3rd quarter, reaching levels of €15,351,000 and €9,633,000, respectively, on 11 percent higher revenues of €111,946,000 accompanied by an improvement of 270 basis points in the group’s gross margin to 40.6 percent.For the first nine months of ...

  • Article

    K2 Records Improved Results

    2006-11-10T00:00:00Z

    Higher sales of Marmot apparel, coupled with decent turnover from its action sports segment, helped boost K2’s total revenues by 4.9 percent to $356.9 million in the 3rd quarter, ended Sept. 30. The gross margin expanded by 180 basis points to 38.6 percent. Improved manufacturing efficiencies helped adjusted net income ...

  • Article

    Callaway Partners With Retailers In The Usa To Sell Products Online

    2006-11-10T00:00:00Z

    Callaway Golf will use a network of nearly 300 authorized dealers in the USA to offer its complete line of Callaway and Odyssey branded products to consumers online through a new website called shop.callawaygolf.com. An automatic algorithmic selection mechanism will place the consumer directly in contact with the retailer that ...

  • Article

    Warnaco Sells Op To Iconix

    2006-11-10T00:00:00Z

    Iconix, a U.S. company that has become a licensing specialist, will pay $54 million in cash and notes for the historic Ocean Pacific brand, and it will grant Warnaco a license for the women’s and junior swimwear categories. Warnaco is the U.S. licensee of Speedo and has many other swimwear ...

  • Article

    New Golf Equipment Conglomerate Acquires Outlook Sports

    2006-11-10T00:00:00Z

    A new British golf equipment company, Equiam Ltd., has secured the rights to the Lynx, Hippo, Howson, Progen and Fazer golf brands following the financial problems of Outlook Sports, the brands’ previous owner, which went into administration – a form of insolvency or Chapter 11 bankruptcy - in September. Equiam ...