A rainy summer season affected the sales of many European outdoor retailers, leading the French outdoor group to post lower than expected results in the 4th quarter, ended Sept. 30, aside from better performance at two of its brands, Oxbow and Le Chameau.
The Lafuma brand had a particularly bad 4th quarter, with sales off by 2.3 percent on a comparative basis, missing targets especially in its garden furniture segment. The company blamed the dip on the bad weather, but also on delays in deliveries, which affected Millet’s sales as well.
For the full financial year, the group’s consolidated revenues were up by 2.7 percent, to €250 million, which was below the previously set targets. Millet, the group’s more technical outdoor brand, saw its revenues rise by only 1 percent for the year, as its sales were already lagging behind due to the mild weather spell that affected most of Europe in the past Winter season.
Le Chameau, Lafuma’s horse-riding equipment subsidiary, recorded the strongest growth in revenues within the group, up by 11.6 percent for the year, with a 23.3 percent rise in foreign markets. A rise in the price mix and the rainy summer weather contributed to the positive figures.
Oxbow continued to ride on the success of its surfwear collection in the 2006-07 financial year, with revenues up by 9 percent. New stores and a 13 percent rise in foreign sales for the brand helped attain this score. Including all the brands, Lafuma’s international sales grew by 7.5 percent, with most of the increase coming from the East European market – up by 25 percent. The joint venture set up two years ago in China was deemed a success. Sales under license grew by 40 percent to €48 million, with strong progress for Oxbow products and for the foreign licenses held by Lafuma and Millet outside Europe.
The company has opened flagships stores in Biarritz and Bordeaux for Oxbow, and in Paris for Lafuma. It has also started up two transactional websites for online sales, restricted for the moment to French consumers. The financial results for the past year will be announced shortly. The group foresees better sales growth for the current financial year, which has begun with a significant increase.
