Mizuno saw revenues inch up by 0.8 percent to 48.4 billion yen (€428.6m-$483.1m) for the quarter ended June 30, hampered by the effect of relatively weak European and Asian currencies. On a currency-neutral basis, sales in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) improved by 15.4 percent over the year-ago quarter, driven by healthy sales of tennis and indoor sports shoes, but this resulted in growth of only 4.9 percent when translated into yen.
In the Americas, revenues tumbled by 16.4 percent in yen and by 14.9 percent on a currency-neutral basis - with the company blaming a sluggish environment in the North American footwear business caused by excessive inventories of performance running shoes. In addition, a major sports retailer went bankrupt amid difficult market conditions, and in South America, Brazilian sales remained soft due to the unstable economic environment in the country (see also the article on Alpargatas in this issue).
In Asia and Oceania, sales rose by 9.6 percent on a currency-neutral basis, but inched up by 1.3 percent when taking in account currency fluctuations. The company recorded healthy sales of football shoes in the region, boosted by the strong performance of subsidiaries in South Korea and Singapore, established in 2013. In Japan, which accounted for 31.3 percent of all revenues, sales were up 5.5 percent, driven by sales of competitive sports items, the sports facility business and new businesses. During the quarter, the company launched a line of work shoes and other non-sports items.
On a global basis, Mizuno's footwear sales were down by 2.4 percent to ¥15,402 million (€136.4m-$153.7m), apparel sales gained 2.3 percent to ¥14,576 million (€129.1m-$145.5m), and equipment sales dropped by 3.4 percent to ¥11,890 million (€105.3m-$118.7m).
