HELSINKI (BRAIN) — Mavic sales were up 3 percent globally in the first half of this year, as its parent company Amer Sports Corporation recorded a net sales increase of 9 percent, to 461.1 million euros ($509 million).
Mavic's sales totaled 72.1 million euros in the first half, up from 70.1 million in the same period last year. In the second quarter, April through June, Mavic sales were 31.7 million euros, up from 31.1 million euros last year. The company said rider equipment (apparel, helmets and footwear including pedals) grew by 11 percent in the second quarter; it did not break out sales in other categories for Mavic.
The Finland-based Amer, which owns Mavic and several other outdoors sports brands, also announced the acquisition of Queenax, a functional fitness training brand that will join Precor in Amer's Sports Fitness business segment. Precor had previously distributed Queenax equipment in North America. Amer did not disclose the purchase price for the Italy-based company.
According to a half-year interim report released Wednesday, the 9 percent sales increase in the first half was in local currencies and includes sales from Louisville Slugger, which Amer purchased during the period. Excluding Slugger sales, Amer sales were still up 7 percent. Gross margin also was up, from 43.9 percent to 44.1 percent.
"We continued to deliver broad-based organic growth in the second quarter, driven by our strategic growth areas. We also continued to drive profit improvement especially in Ball Sports where our mix kept shifting toward higher margin items such as performance tennis rackets showing strong topline momentum," said Heikki Takala, Amer's president and CEO.
"On top of driving organic growth, we have this year concluded the acquisition of Louisville Slugger for baseball acceleration, and Sports Tracker for building a scalable Amer Sports online sports service. In addition, we just acquired Queenax, a functional training systems provider, to close a gap in our Fitness offering versus an important consumer trend. These acquisitions follow our strategic priorities, providing us platforms for further acceleration. Acceleration continues to be the name of the game, as we see our strategies working as planned and we can continue to execute with confidence."
Amer will hold an investor conference call regarding its interim report later Wednesday.
More information: Full interim report.
