The Austrian Intersport group has published satisfactory figures for its fiscal year 2007-08, ended Aug. 31. The turnover at retail prices including VAT increased by 12.9 percent to €595 million. The presentation marks the last time the figures include the business of what used to be its largest member, Intersport Eybl, which quit the group effective the end of August. As reported in SGI Europe, Eybl continues to be a licensee of the Intersport brand for at least five years.
In Austria, sales were up by 10.3 percent mainly due to the performance of medium-sized retail members in the big cities and ski resorts. In fact, the Austrian retailers could improve thanks to a satisfactory winter compared with a catastrophic season 2006-07. The turnover in the winter sports category still makes up 55 percent of the dealers’ total sales in the country.
The year is unusual for Intersport Austria for two reasons: the departure of Intersport Eybl as a member and the Euro 2008 soccer championship that took place in Austria and Switzerland last summer. The group’s turnover in team sports grew by 12 percent on a comparable basis and by 44 percent including the additional surfaces provided basically by Intersport Eybl, which took care of selling licensed goods in the arenas, railway stations and other major locations.
Intersport Austria filed an operative loss for the latest fiscal year of some €2.5 million. Gabriele Fenninger, the group’s president, stated that the results might continue to be negative in the current fiscal year, but should be positive in the year to come. The loss is connected with the departure of Eybl, but Fenninger was not willing to explain the details.
EAG had an increase in turnover of 3 percent to €370 million. The turnover came from 10 Eybl megastores, 11 Intersport Eybl shops, 17 Sports Experts outlets and four Snipes stores.
The buying group’s darling outside Austria is definitely the Czech Republic, where the sales increase came close to 20 percent. Intersport faced a special situation in Slovakia, where it had to close stores in the capital, Bratislava, so it is happy to report a very small increase there. Hungary is a very challenging market. The Magyar territory does not really demand skis, a major segment in which Intersport Austria is especially skillful. Hungary is basically dominated by Décathlon and the Hervis group; the Austria-dominated Intersport operations face an uphill fight, partially due to the fact that it arrived on the market as late as 2006. In regard of the recent market penetration, the figures are satisfactory, though on a small level.
Some of the increase in turnover came out of shop openings in the licensed neighboring countries of the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia. In Autumn 2008, Intersport Austria has opened or will open seven stores in Austria, three in the Czech Republic and two each in Slovakia and Hungary. By the end of year, Intersport will count 140 retailers in the four countries: 114 in Austria, the rest in the other countries. While Intersport Austria does not operate any own outlets in Austria and Slovakia, it does have some in Hungary and the Czech Republic. The group counts 260 stores in Austria and eight in Slovakia. In the Czech Republic, there are 33 Intersport branded shops of which 20 are the company’s own. In Hungary, three out of 11 are corporate outlets.
