FARMINGTON, Utah (BRAIN) — Vista Outdoor announced Thursday that its fiscal second-quarter sales were solid at $547 million, with flat sales in its action sports division. The company indicated it was in no rush to sell its bike brands, which include Bell, Giro and Blackburn. Vista had announced in August that it would sell those brands as well as Savage Firearms.
Vista completed the sale of its eyewear group during the quarter, which ended Sept. 30. It put the proceeds from the $158 million sale toward paying down debt. Next on the block is Savage, and the company said it hoped to have news on that sale before the end of its fiscal year. The company said it planned to stick to its previously announced plan to sell the brands sequentially, explaining that it didn't have the resources to handle the process of selling multiple businesses at the same time.
Quarterly sales were down 7 percent from the prior-year quarter, but the company said they exceeded internal expectations. Operating expenses were $128 million, compared with $266 million in the prior-year quarter. Adjusted operating expenses were $94 million, compared with $105 million in the prior-year quarter.
The company said it was seeing growth in its golf and outdoor cooking categories, and some growth in the sale of hydration packs under the CamelBak brand. Water bottle sales were flat, however. CamelBak is one of the brands that Vista intends to hang onto following its brand folio realignment.
In a quarterly earnings report and conference call Thursday, Vista executives made little mention of the bike brands, only noting Giro's new custom helmet program. It also noted that new tariffs so far have had little effect on the company's bottom line and that it was gratified that helmets and protective eyewear were excluded from the round of 10 percent tariffs on Chinese goods that took effect in September.
