Sales crept up by 3.0 percent to €59.0 million for Head for in the second quarter ended June 30. The company ended up with a net loss was €8.0 million, up from a loss of €5.3 million last year. The results included a net tax benefit of €1.9 million this year against a net benefit of €1.3 million.
The gross margin dipped by 1.9 percentage points to 41.0 percent as a result of higher costs of raw materials that were priced in dollars, which strengthened against the euro
By category, winter sports sales had a 19 percent improvement in what is typically a small quarter to €7.7 million. European retailers reported that accessories and skiwear drove growth there. Sales of skis were flat in Europe and fell in Japan and Canada.
Revenues from racquet sports rose by 2 percent to €36.7 million because of higher sales of tennis balls helped by the stronger dollar. The product mix was unfavorable against the prior year when Head had more new product launches. Diving revenues rose by 3 percent to €15.1 million, an improvement attributed to the late start of summer last year in Europe. Licensing revenues declined by 29 percent to €1.2 million.
Sales in Europe were up by just 0.1 percentage point to €35.5 million. They were flat in the home Austria region at €16.8 million. In Italy revenues grew by 2.5 percent to €10.3 million, but they fell by 2.7 percent in the rest of Europe to €8.3 million. In North America, turnover grew by 5.7 percent to €20.9 million, though in dollars this was a 1.0 percent decline. Sales in Asia jumped by 28.8 percent to €2.6 million.
Head gave no specific guidance for the year other than to say it expected sales to be slightly ahead of last year with industry trading conditions remaining difficult. It said it will need to continue with restructuring programs to remain competitive but offered no details.
