Suggesting its annual sales are likely to reach a record high, helped by contributions from its core Performance Sports, Sportstyle and Onitsuka Tiger segments, Asics Corp. has raised its FY23 outlook.
Annual operating income is now pegged at ¥46,000 million (€308.2m), up 24 percent from a February forecast of ¥37,000. FY net profit is now estimated at ¥25,000 million (€167.5) with annual sales expected to grow by 8 percent over a prior estimate to ¥550,000 million (€3.7b).
Asics’ H1 shows 75% growth in operating income
In H1 ended June 30, Asics benefitted from a normalized supply chain, a rebounding Greater China region, stronger sales in Southeast and South Asia, strong sales in its Onitsuka Tiger segment, and localized assortments and marketing, to report 75 percent growth in operating income to ¥36,610 million (€225.2m) and 29 percent increase in total sales to ¥290,079 million (€1.94b).
Net profit attributable to owners of the parent rose a whopping 83 percent year-over-year to ¥24,796 million (€166.1m). Implied Q2 results showed a 75 percent increase in net income to ¥8,486 million (€56.9m) compared to ¥4,837 million, but a 1.6 percent decline in year-over-year period revenues to ¥117,782 million (€789.1m) from ¥119,751 million.
| Asics - Income | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 2022 | Change | |
| H1 (￥ billion) | |||
| Net sales | 290.0 | 225.0 | 28.9% |
| Gross profit | 147.9 | 111.4 | 32.8% |
| Gross margin | 51.0% | 49.5% | 1.5 pp |
| SG&A expenses | 114.3 | 92.3 | 23.8% |
| Operating income | 33.6 | 19.1 | 75.9% |
| Operating margin | 11.6% | 8.5% | 3.1 pp |
| Ordinary income | 33.8 | 18.9 | 78.8% |
| Net attributable to owners of parent | 24.7 | 13.5 | 83.0% |
| Q2 (￥ billion) | |||
| Net sales | 137.8 | 119.7 | 15.1% |
| Gross profit | 71.5 | 58.8 | 21.6% |
| Gross margin | 51.9% | 49.2% | 2.7 pp |
| SG&A expenses | 60.0 | 49.7 | 20.7% |
| Operating income | 11.5 | 9.1 | 26.4% |
| Operating margin | 8.3% | 7.6% | 0.7 pp |
| Ordinary income | 11.9 | 7.9 | 50.6% |
| Net attributable to owners of parent | 8.4 | 4.8 | 75.0% |
| Source: Asics | |||
Asics sales reflect rebounding Chinese market
In the EMEA, H1 profitability rose by 11 percent to ¥7,953 million (€53.3m) as strong sales in all categories pushed regional revenues up by 24 percent to ¥78,379 million (€525.1m).
In Greater China, segment income increased 42 percent year-over-year to ¥8,490 million (€56.9m) as total sales grew by 40 percent to ¥40,413 million (€270.8m).
In North America, bolstered by strong sales in Performance Running and the core Performance Sports category, H1 sales increased by 17 percent to ¥55,921 million (€374.7m) as segment operating income came in at ¥505 million (€3.4m).
In its home Japan market, Asics saw six-month profitability soar nearly 160 percent year-over-year to ¥8,010 million (€53.7m) on 22 percent revenue growth to ¥69,111 million (¥463.0m).
Elsewhere, Southeast/South Asia sales increased 67 percent to ¥13,443 million (€90.1m) and Oceania sales sailed 22 percent higher to ¥18,883 million (€126.5m).
| Asics - Revenues | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Q2 (￥ billion) | |||
| 2023 | 2022 | Change | |
| By category | |||
| Performance Running (P.Run) | 147.8 | 123.2 | 20.0% |
| Core Performance Sports (CPS) | 40.4 | 23.5 | 71.9% |
| Sportstyle (SPS) | 28.0 | 18.5 | 51.4% |
| Apparel & Equipment (APEQ) | 18.0 | 17.1 | 5.3% |
| Onitsuka Tiger (OT) | 28.2 | 19.6 | 43.9% |
| By region | |||
| Japan | 43.7 | 30.8 | 41.9% |
| North America | 55.9 | 47.6 | 17.4% |
| Europe | 78.3 | 63.0 | 24.3% |
| Greater China | 40.4 | 28.9 | 39.8% |
| Oceania | 18.8 | 15.4 | 22.1% |
| Southeast / South Asia | 13.4 | 8.0 | 67.5% |
| Other | 24.2 | 20.2 | 19.8% |
| By channel | |||
| Wholesale | 184.2 | 149.5 | 23.2% |
| Retail | 51.3 | 38.1 | 34.6% |
| E-commerce | 49.6 | 36.3 | 36.6% |
| Running Services | 4.9 | 1.1 | 345.5% |
| Source: Asics | |||
Performance Running still Asics’ most valuable category
Performance Running sales rose 20 percent in H1, reflecting growth in all regions, to ¥147.8 billion (€990.5m). Results were bolstered by the promotion of the Gel-Nimbus 25 in key regions around the globe. Segment profit rose 13 percent to ¥29,275 million (€196.1m).
Core Performance Sports realized a 116 percent improvement in operating income to ¥8,700 million (€58.3m) on 72 percent sales growth to ¥40,430 million (€270.9m).
Sportstyle segment sales lifted 52 percent higher to ¥28,077 million (€188.1m) as category profitability improved by nearly 73 percent to ¥5,421 million (€36.3m).
Onitsuka Tiger operating profit rose by 116 percent to ¥7,826 million (€52.4m) on 44 percent sales growth to ¥28,297 million (€189.6m). Apparel/Equipment sales, fueled by strong sales in Japan and Greater China, rose by 5 percent to ¥18,075 million (€121.1m) and reported ¥1,319 million (€8.8m) in segment operating income.
