Halti, the Finnish ski apparel company, has sealed an exclusive deal with Intersport Germany to sell a range of apparel made for the volunteers of the alpine skiing World Championships to be held in Garmisch-Partenkirchen in 2011.
This is part of the company’s expansion drive after an extensive clean-up in the last two years. Halti achieved sales of nearly €28 million in 2009, down from about €32 million at its highest level in 2007. The turnover includes sales of about €6 million for Raiski, a cheaper brand of apparel sold almost exclusively in Finland.
The decline could be attributed to cutbacks implemented by the company to restart from a healthier financial basis. The cuts of about €3.5 million in Halti’s operational costs entailed about 20 job reductions, leaving Halti with 60 employees, as well as a reduction of about 20 percent in its range, cutting out many sportswear-oriented products, and the closure of Halti’s Swedish subsidiary.
The clean-up enabled the company to sharply reduce its debts, which had been high after Halti’s management buy-out a decade ago, and to achieve a comfortable margin.
The group just started focusing on international markets in 2004; they generated about €6 million of its sales last year. Its largest export business is in Germany and Austria. Among its latest moves, Halti has struck a distribution deal with Sameva in Belgium.
The company expects a boost to its German business even before its partnership with the World Championships, which calls for Halti to outfit some 1,500 volunteers. It has budgeted sales of about €1.8 million in Germany in 2010, up from €1.2 million last year. Halti already acted as a supplier for the previous championships in Åre and Val d’Isère, and it has an option for similar deals until 2013.
Halti has been headed since last November by Martti Uusitalo, who had been with Halti since 2002. Managers own 51 percent of the company, while the rest is in the hands of a private equity firm.
