HELSINKI (BRAIN) — Sales in Amer Sports Corporation's cycling division — comprising sales by Mavic and Enve — were down 10 percent in local currencies in 2017, Amer reported Thursday. In the final quarter of the fiscal year, the division's sales were also down 10 percent.
The company saw a 4 percent increase in sales across all its divisions last year. It attributed the decline in the bike division to soft OE order and high industry and retail inventories.
The cycling division's sales totaled 134.3 million euros ($164 million) for the year, down from 150.2 million euros the year before.
Within Amer's Outdoor segment, which includes cycling, the star last year was Arc'teryx, which helped Amer's outdoor apparel sales grow by 12 percent. The Sports Instruments division grew 1 percent for the year but got a big boost in the final quarter when Suunto introduced its new Spartan family of watches. Suunto sales were up 28 percent in local currencies in the final quarter.
"We finished 2017 with a strong fourth quarter, driven again by our strategic acceleration priorities Softgoods, Direct to Consumer, and China," said Amer's CEO and president, Heikki Takala. "We continued to accelerate growth in Fitness and Sports Equipment. We also continued to make Winter Sports Equipment stronger, with solid growth and improving profitability. At the same time, in a turbulent market, we did have challenges to drive target growth, especially in Ball Sports and Cycling, and work remains to re-ignite them."
In Septemeber last year, Bernard Millaud stepped down as president of Amer's cycling category and was appointed into a advisory role reporting to Takala. The cycling category is now led by Gary Bryant, its general manager.
Amer planned a conference call with investors at 1 p.m. Finnish time Thursday.
