Retail sales rose by only one percent to €2.87 billion for the German retailers affiliated with Intersport in the past calendar year, but as a group, Intersport Germany performed better in some other countries. In Austria, sales were up by 11 percent to €400 million, probably owing to the weaknesses of Sports Direct International in the country. They jumped by 7 percent to €30 million in Slovakia and by 2 percent to €50 million in the Czech Republic.
In Hungary, where Intersport stores were upgraded to build up more points of difference with Decathlon, the group's business remained roughly stable at €20 million. The figures for Poland are yet to be published since Intersport Polska, of which the German section of Intersport is just a minority shareholder, is stock-listed, but the management of Intersport Germany said at Ispo that the environment in Poland has been challenging lately.
Mainly because of the weather conditions, the group saw a quite mixed 2015 calendar year in Germany in comparison with the prior year. The first three months were up by 7-8 percent thanks to satisfactory snow conditions compared with early 2014. This was offset by an unfavorable month of December, which was down by 8 percent. It was the warmest December in decades. A sales decline of 6 percent was booked in the summer months, with weather conditions being especially unfavorable in August.
By categories, it is no surprise that Intersport Germany's team sports sales declined by 19 percent given the absence of a major football tournament last year. Snow sports products increased by 9 percent on average compared with 2014. This came from good sales from January through March 2015. In contrast, sales of winter sports clothing fell by 10 percent, due apparently to a change in purchasing behavior: The general trend in Germany is that equipment now is usually purchased in the second half of the winter season, i.e. in the early months of the calendar year, while fashionable apparel is bought at the beginning of the winter season, i.e. at the end of the year. For this category, December was definitely too warm.
The outdoor category grew by 2 percent, while running remained stable. Racquet sports were, once again, down by 6 percent, due to a difficult environment for tennis in Germany as well as the ongoing shift of this segment from general sporting goods retailers to specialty (web) shops.
