The recent measures taken by the Japanese government from July tthrough September to combat the Covid-19 pandemic, which shut down team and indoor sports and reduced store traffic, had an impact on the latest quarterly results of two major Japanese sports retailers. Golf was an exception, and winter sporting goods were hit the most.
Revenues fell by 10 percent to 52.6 billion (€410m-$478m) at Alpen in its first quarter, ended Sept. 30. Bolstered by price promotions, sales of golf products rose by 2 percent to ¥21.7 billion (€170m-$190m), with strong sales of beginners’ sets and clubs. Declines were recorded in all the other main categories, led by a drop of 73 percent for winter sports to just ¥36 million (€280,000-$310,000) in advance of the snow season. General sporting goods fell by 22 percent, sports lifestyle by 16 percent and outdoor by 9 percent.
Alpen’s gross margin contracted by 2.1 percentage points to 40.6 percent, and the company ended up with net income of ¥850 million (€5.5m-$7.7m), 75 percent below the year-ago level.
A better picture emerged from Xebio’s report for the first six months of its fiscal year, also ended on Sept. 30, which showed an 18 percent increase in revenues to ¥107.1 billion (€826.1m-$973.5m). Golf led all the categories with a growth of 33 percent. General sporting goods were up by 14 percent, while outdoor and athletic apparel had gains of 12 percent and 3 percent, respectively, but winter sports were off by 36 percent.
Xebio’s gross margin narrowed by 0.8 percentage points to 39.5 percent during the period, but net earnings improved sharply to ¥1,612 million (€12.4m-$14.6m). The company forecasts a return to pre-pandemic levels for the full financial year, predicting that sales will rise by 11 percent to ¥225.3 billion (€1.74bn-$1.97bn), generating net income of ¥2.48 billion (€19.18m-$21.76m).
