MALMO, Sweden (BRAIN) — Thule Group improved its profitability over its first three fiscal quarters this year and saw a sales increase of 1.7 percent after currency adjustment in the third quarter and 5.2 percent for the first three quarters. The Sweden-based company saw the fastest growth in Europe and the rest of the world outside the Americas.
However, in the Americas, Thule Group saw a 8.8 percent decline in sales in the third quarter. "The market as a whole has not recovered in the way we expected during the third quarter," the company said.
The company pointed to three factors for the sales decline in the American region: a soft Outdoor segment following two major retail chain bankruptcies this year, "cautiousness in the cycling retail segment with large ingoing bicycle inventories ahead of the 2016 season," and a continued in sales in Thule's "Bags for Electronic Devices" segment, which has been a declining segment for several years for Thule. The company said all three factors will affect the fourth quarter.
Overall, Thule's sales increased to 1.366 million Swedish Kronas EK ( $161 million). During the quarter, Thule acquired GMG B.V., a manufacturer of child bike seats in the Benelux region. The company said it has inegrated GMG quickly, introducing a new line of bike seats under the Thule Yepp brand at the fall trade shows.
