While its Swedish sales declined slightly, the Fenix Outdoor Group still lifted its turnover by 9 percent to 439.3 million Swedish crowns (€51.1m-$66.4m) and sharply raised its profit for the first quarter of this year, as it continued to expand in eastern European countries and in the United States. The turnover would have advanced by 11 percent in constant currencies.
The group's brands unit, comprising Fjällräven as well as Tierra, Primus, Hanwag and Brunton, saw its sales increase by 12 percent to SEK 329.7 million (€38.4m-$49.8m) for the quarter. The company said that the improvement had been driven by the Fjällräven brand, as well as by expansion into eastern European markets - reaping the benefits of investments made in the last three years.
When it comes to the Fenix group's retail business, its turnover was nearly stable at SEK 103.7 million (€12.1m-$15.7m) for the three months. The company pointed out that this came after robust sales in November and December. Sales dwindled by 4.6 percent to SEK 67.7 million (€7.9m-$10.2m) at Naturkompaniet, the leading chain of outdoor specialist stores in Sweden, but this was compensated by an increase of 10.8 percent to the equivalent of SEK 36.0 million (€4.2m-$5.4m) for Partioaitta, the Finnish chain acquired by Fenix in 2011. The Swedish group had 45 stores and 5 franchises at the end of the three months, against 43 stores and 6 franchises at the same time the previous year (more in The Outdoor Industry Compass).
