HELSINKI (BRAIN) — Mavic's owner, Amer Sports Corp., is reporting net sales of 783.7 milion euros ($870 million) in the fourth quarter of 2015, up 6 percent in local currencies from its sales in the same period in 2014. Gross margins increased to 43.8 percent from 43 percent in the prior year.
Amer reported that cycling sales through the Mavic brand were down 2 percent for the year in local currencies; due to fluctuating exchange rates, Mavic's net revenue was unchanged from 2014, at 138.5 million euros. In an investor call, president and CEO Heikki Takala said Amer's fitness and cycling business was "slightly down" in the quarter due to restructuring. He said the divisions are preparing "a solid pipeline of building blocks for 2016 and beyond" that will become apparent in the second quarter this year.
For the full year 2015, Amer recorded sales of 2.5 billion euros, up from 2.2 billion euros in 2014. Excluding sales from the brands that Amer acquired in the year, its net sales increased by 5 percent in local currencies. Full-year gross margins also was up, from 43.9 percent in 2014 to 45.2 percent last year.
"We closed 2015 with a solid fourth quarter, and more importantly we completed our sixth consecutive year of profitable growth in line with our Sustainable Growth Model," Takala said. " The 2015 growth was broad-based and driven by our strategic acceleration priorities, as well as continuous improvement in our core business, most notably Ball Sports and Winter Sports Equipment. In Fitness and Cycling we focused on business model renewal and restructuring, and prepared a solid pipeline of building blocks for 2016 and beyond."
Besides Mavic, Amer owns Arc'teryx, Salomon, Wilson, Atomic, Suunto, Precor and Louisville Slugger.
