Abacus, the Swedish golf apparel brand, predicts another buoyant year after a sales rise of about 5 percent in 2014, driven by demand for licensed merchandise for the Ryder Cup and continued expansion in Europe and Asia.
The company reached sales of about 65 million Swedish kronor (€7.0m-$7.4m) for its apparel and accessories last year and is targeting SEK 69 million (€7.4m-$7.8m) for 2015. It achieved its targeted pre-tax profit margin of 4 percent in 2014, which remains unchanged for this year.
Among its latest expansion moves, Abacus opened a subsidiary at the beginning of this year in Denmark, which is its largest foreign market. The company operates with two sales people and more may be hired in the coming years.
Abacus is equally upbeat about the U.K. market after it got several influential customers on board last year, from Wentworth Club to Crown Golf, the Euro Select Golf Alliance and House of Fraser. The expansion has been aided by Oliver Kennedy, who is strongly established in the market and joined the Swedish brand as U.K. key account manager in February last year. He previously worked as a PGA pro, as area sales manager for Glenmuir, the Scottish golf apparel brand, and as a corporate business sales specialist at Callaway Golf.
The Swedish market, which still makes up about 40 percent of Abacus' turnover, yielded growth again last year. Swedish sales advanced by about SEK 2 million (€0.21m-$0.23m) as golf regained some impetus in the country in 2014, after eight years of steady decline in registered active participation.
To accompany European expansion, Abacus hired Karin Söderstrom to head up European sales last year. Finland and the Netherlands are among the other markets where Abacus sales were on the rise. Chiefly due to economic circumstances, the demand was weaker in southern European countries.
At the same time, the Swedish brand is preparing the opening of a representative office in China. This will not take care of sales, which are handled by a separate company, Golf Partner, an independent licensee of golf and fashion apparel operating for Abacus in mainland China, Hong Kong and Macao. However, the office is meant to underline the company's commitment to the Chinese market and to work more closely with its suppliers.
This year the company is again the official apparel supplier of the European Tour and the European team at the Solheim Cup, which will be held on September 18-20 at the Golf Club of St. Leon-Rot in Germany. Abacus also announced earlier this month that it signed individual apparel agreements with two of the top female golfers in Europe: the Scottish player Catriona Matthew and the Swedish player Carin Koch, the 2015 European Solheim Cup Captain.
