The Swedish-based New Wave Group, which owns sports brands like Craft and Cutter & Back and distributes several others, saw total sales in the second quarter ended June 2022 rise by 36 percent to 2,019 million Swedish kronor (€191.0m), with growth led by the rise in the top line of its Sports & Leisure segment. At constant currency rates, New Wave’s sales increased by 30 percent.
In the second quarter, the Sports & Leisure unit’s sales grew by 53 percent to SEK 881.5 million (€83.4m), with higher sales in all geographical regions and on both retail and promo sales channels. The segment’s operating profit grew to SEK 134.5 million (€12.7m) from SEK 108.8 million. Sales at New Wave’s corporate segment increased by 30 percent to SEK 915.3 million (€86.6m), as that segment’s operating profit improved to SEK 204.4 million (€19.3m) from SEK 117.5 million.
Overall, the New Wave Group saw its gross margin increase to 51.0 percent from 48.3 percent in the second quarter of 2021, with the gross margin for Sports & Leisure remaining steady and that for Corporate and Gifts & Home increasing. Operating earnings improved to SEK 351.0 million (€33.2m) from SEK 241.3 million as the operating margin widened to 17.4 percent from 16.2 percent. Net profit climbed to SEK 265.0 million (€25.1m) from SEK 187.7 million.
Torsten Jansson, the CEO of New Wave, pointed to the 42 percent growth seen in base orders at Craft for the fall. “I also want to highlight Clique, which is greatly increasing its promo sales, and Cutter & Buck, which has become a growth machine” both in Europe and the U.S. Jansson added that New Wave is well-positioned for an eventual economic downturn; he said that New Wave’s “higher profitability and a stronger balance sheet than most competitors” could also allow it to make acquisitions at more reasonable prices, noting that the group has refrained from making acquisitions in recent years due to excessive price expectations.
