Sales of Sumitomo Rubber Industries’ sports brands improved 27 percent in the first quarter, from 23,327 million Yen to ¥29,685 million (€219.85m), resulting in an operating profit of ¥3,980 million (€29.48m), up 61 percent from ¥2,468 million a year earlier.
The group’s golf brands – Dunlop, Srixon and Cleveland – continued their strong momentum, and Dunlop Tennis sales were also up on the previous year. However, bottlenecks in the supply of golf club components limited growth. Results from the company’s wellness business were also positive, despite headwinds from Covid preventive measures in the Japanese home market.
The strong quarter prompted Sumitomo Rubber to raise its full-year forecast, now expecting sales of ¥107,500 million (€796.14m) instead of ¥105,500 million (€781.33m) and operating profit of ¥8,000 million (€59.25m) instead of ¥7,000 million (€51.84m).
