Besides Asics, Mizuno and Goldwin, whose latest results have already been covered, some other Japanese companies have reported better results for the three months of 2021. The foreign exchange impact was slight. For one of them, Yonex, this was insufficient to record an improvement for the full financial year, however.
In the fourth quarter ended March 31, Yonex had its first quarterly sales gain since the pandemic began. Its sales grew by 3 percent during the period to ¥15.84 billion (€122.7m-$149.6m), leading to a 37 percent increase in net income to ¥812 million (€6.3m-$7.7m). The gross margin improved by 0.8 percentage points to 45.1 percent, and operating expenses rose by 0.4 percentage points in relation to sales.
For the full financial year, Yonex’ earnings slipped by 33 percent to ¥1,102 million (€8.5m-$10.4m) on 17 percent lower revenues of ¥51.55 billion (€399.1m-$486.8m). Sales were down by 24 percent in Japan, by 17 percent in Europe, by 12 percent in the Americas and by 3 percent in the rest of Asia. By category, sales were off by 18 percent in badminton, by 13 percent in tennis and by 1 percent in the relatively small golf segment. B
Sales began to recover in May in the tennis sector and later in the year for badminton. Operating losses were recorded both in Europe and North America. In Europe, the operating loss amounted to ¥73 million (€547.920-$668.289) on sales of ¥2,286 million (€17.2m-$20.9m). For the current financial year, Yonex sees sales improving to ¥63 billion (€472.8m-$576.6m), leading to net income of ¥1.4 billion (€10.5m-$12.8m). Badminton and tennis represented 55.9 percent and 14.4 percent of total sales, respectively.
Another Japanese-based operation involved in the racquet sports sector, the Dunlop Sports division of Sumitomo Rubber, has reported a net profit of ¥2,468 million (€19.1m-$23.3m) for its first quarter ended March 31, against a loss of ¥397 million (€3.0m-$3.6m) in the year-ago period, as its sales jumped by 34 percent to ¥23.3 billion (€180.7m-$220.3m).
Both golf and tennis products drove the improvement, benefitting from the post-Covid recovery and from new product launches accompanied by strengthened digital marketing. Sumitomo, which reports its results on a calendar basis, has upgraded its guidance for its sports segment, predicting a 54 percent increase in sales during the first half of 2021 to ¥46.0 billion (€344.9m-$420.6m) and net income of ¥3.0 billion (€22.5m-$27.4m) against a loss of ¥2.9 billion (€21.7m-$26.5m) in the same period of 2020. For the full year, the new forecast calls for net profit of ¥3.5 billion (€26.2m-$32.0m) on sales of ¥86.5 billion (€648.4m-$790.9m).
Meanwhile, Globeride, a fishing tackle and golf company whose assets include Daiwa, reported net income of ¥123 million (€983.889-$1.2m) for its fourth fiscal quarter ended March 31, compared with a year-ago loss of ¥835 million (€6.3m-$7.6m), on 14 percent higher sales of ¥24.88 billion (€192.7m-$235.0m). The gross margin narrowed by 0.7 percentage points to 35.4 percent, however.
For its full financial year, sales were also up by 14 percent to ¥100.3 billion (€776.7m-$947.2m), leading to a fourfold increase in net income to ¥4,797 million (€37.1m-$45.3m) compared with ¥1,123 million (€8.4m-$10.3m) during the first half of 2020. Sales grew by 11 percent in Japan, by 9 percent in Europe, by 22 percent in the Americas and by 23 percent in the rest of Asia and Oceania. The forecast for this year calls for an improved profit of ¥5.7 billion (€42.7m-$52.1m) on sales of ¥110 billion (€824.5m-$1.0bn).
