Latest Headlines – Page 505

  • Article

    Basicnet Improves Results

    2006-05-19T00:00:00Z

    The parent company of Kappa, Robe di Kappa and K-Way reports a 35.3 percent in net income to €747,000 for the 1st quarter, mainly due to a 16.5 percent decline in finance and foreign exchange charges. While revenues went up, gross and operating margins declined. Royalties and commissions rose ...

  • Article

    Intersport Enters Other New Markets, Steps Up Sports Marketing

    2006-05-19T00:00:00Z

    Intersport is signing up for three years as a sponsor of the Tour de France, ensuring a lot of signage along the famous French bike race, which runs on July 1-23. Some co-branding action is planned with Nike, another important sponsor of the Tour. A special bike model from Intersport’s ...

  • Article

    The Industy Bids Farewell To Jürgen Lohrberg

    2006-05-11T00:00:00Z

    Some 170 invited guests from Germany and from abroad, including numerous prominent personalities from the sporting goods scene, showed up last Monday night at a farewell party in Munich for Jürgen Lohrberg, who is retiring at the age of 63 as divisional manager of Messe München for ISPO and other ...

  • Article

    Karstadt Appoints A Hot Shot From Tchibo After Selling One More Sports Property

    2006-05-11T00:00:00Z

    Karstadt-Quelle has sold Fritz Berger, leaving the embattled German retail group, which is looking for a new corporate name, with only its Karstadt Sporthouses as a specialty business in the sporting goods sector. Fritz Berger claims to be Europe’s biggest mail order house specializing in the sale of caravans, camping ...

  • Article

    Jd Sports Bucks Tough Market Trends

    2006-05-11T00:00:00Z

    The John David Group has reported respectable results for the year ended last Jan. 28, in spite of persistently competitive trading conditions in the UK market and the upheaval that followed its acquisition of Allsports in October 2005. Revenues were up by 4 percent on the previous year at £490.28 ...

  • Article

    Blacks Is In A Positive Mode, Too

    2006-05-11T00:00:00Z

    Blacks Leisure Group has reported satisfactory trading conditions for the year ended Feb. 28, with total sales up by 1.1 percent to £297.2 million (€437m-$559m), although same-store sales dropped by 3.3 percent. The gross margin increased to 56.9 percent from 53.4 percent in the previous year, while the operating margin ...

  • Article

    Jjb Buys Golf Tv, Mulls Action In Outdoor

    2006-05-11T00:00:00Z

    JJB Sports, which is still the major player in the British sporting goods retail market, has become the first “retail broadcaster” in the world through the acquisition of Golf TV. Using the Sky TV platform, this UK company says it operates Britain’s and Europe’s only dedicated golf channel, called The ...

  • Article

    Sports Sales Boom At Gresvig

    2006-05-11T00:00:00Z

    The leading Norwegian sports buying group improved its pre-tax profit to 42.5 million kroner (€5.5m-$7.0m) in the 1st quarter of this year, as compared to 18.5 million NOK in the year-ago period, in spite of an operating loss of 2.4 million NOK for Voice, the recently acquired Norwegian apparel chain. ...

  • Article

    Football Offsets Reebok At Adidas

    2006-05-11T00:00:00Z

    The FIFA World Cup is already whetting such an appetite for related products that Adidas has raised its forecast of football sales to €1.2 billion for the full year, up from the more conservative €1 billion. This would translate into dollar sales of $1.5 billion at current exchange rates, matching ...

  • Article

    Adidas Takes Over Reebok’S Distribution In Russia And The Cis

    2006-05-11T00:00:00Z

    Nike, which took over the distribution in Russia from Delta Sport a couple of years ago, has decided to extend it with the same Serbian-based company for the Ukraine, Kazakhstan and other CIS countries, but the duration of the new contract could not be determined. Confirming our previous speculation, the ...

  • Article

    Puma Performs Better Than Expected

    2006-05-11T00:00:00Z

    Puma’s chief executive, Jochen Zeitz, has revised his forecasts for the current financial year after a strong first quarter. Consolidated revenues are now predicted to increase by 35 percent rather than by only 30 percent in 2006. The operating profit is budgeted to rise to around €360 million, or 15 ...

  • Article

    Amer Sports Narrows Its Losses

    2006-05-11T00:00:00Z

    The company reported a net loss of €2.4 million on a pro forma basis in the 1st quarter, down from a pro forma loss of €5.0 million in the year-ago period, but it must be said that, excluding Salomon, the group had reached a positive net income of €14.2 million ...

  • Article

    Head Considers A Golf Entry

    2006-05-11T00:00:00Z

    Head’s net revenues grew by 8.2 percent to €68.1 million in the 1st quarter. Strong sales for the winter and racquet sport categories drove the growth, but were partially offset by a decline in the diving division. The gross margin expanded by 280 basis points to 39.7 percent. The results ...

  • Article

    Golf Companies See Improved Results

    2006-05-11T00:00:00Z

    Turnover dropped by 4 percent to $50.1 million in Europe and by 2 percent to $181.3 million in the USA at Callaway Golf in the 1st quarter, but these declines were offset by stronger sales in Asia and the rest of the world. While sales in Japan increased by 5 ...

  • Article

    Expensive Commodities Worry K2

    2006-05-11T00:00:00Z

    Rising labor costs have forced K2 to shift its production in China closer to the border of Vietnam. The company has seen a rise in energy costs of 3-5 percent as well, but has been able to absorb these costs thus far. Net income in the 1st quarter jumped by ...

  • Article

    New Factors Depress Columbia’S Profit

    2006-05-11T00:00:00Z

    Columbia Sportswear is resigned to taking a $1million hit this year as a result of the European anti-dumping duties against China and Vietnam. It’s projecting a total income decline of 10 percent, in spite of higher orders in hand. While the order backlog grew by 12 percent to ...

  • Article

    Rottefella Buys Naxo

    2006-05-11T00:00:00Z

    Rottefella, which is set to become the leader in the market for cross-country ski bindings as a result of its recent agreement with Fischer, is acquiring a 62.5 percent controlling stake in Naxo, a 5-year-old Swiss company that claims a 20 percent share of the fast-growing high-end market for alpine ...

  • Article

    German Court Challenges Fifa’S Rights

    2006-05-11T00:00:00Z

    Trademark rights relating to the 2006 FIFA World Cup continue to keep lawyers busy in Germany. The country’s Federal Supreme Court ruled two weeks ago that the designation “Fussball WM 2006” cannot be protected, opening the door for possible damage claims by 15 “global partners” and five “national promoters” of ...

  • Article

    Champion Europe Buys Giacomelli Sport, And Cisalfa May Change Hands, Too

    2006-04-26T00:00:00Z

    Camuzzi and Spinnaker, the shipbuilding and banking groups that acquired the remains of the plagued Italian sporting goods retailer from the government-appointed receivers in February 2005, were unwilling to pump in more money into a business segment that they did not know well. Champion Europe, which went through a management ...

  • Article

    Jjb’S Profits Are Under Pressure In ‘Competitive’ Market

    2006-04-26T00:00:00Z

    The UK’s biggest sporting goods retailer isn’t waiting for the market to turn around. In response to falling profits and an erosion of market share, JJB Sports has cut margins and is introducing new exclusive brands to fight against the competitive inroads of its arch-rival, Sports World International. The moves ...