Brunswick Corporation has created a new position by appointing Mark D. Schwabero as president and chief operating officer, reporting to Dustan E. McCoy, chairman and chief executive of the group, which owns Life Fitness and many other brands in the Engine, Boat, Fitness and Bowling & Billiards segments.
Schwabero has been most recently president of Brunswick's Mercury Marine engine segment, the biggest one within the group, which he joined in 2004 after working mainly in the automotive sector. John Pfeifer has been promoted to take over his position. The former president of the group, Andrew Graves, is leaving.
Meanwhile, Brunswick has reported a 14.5 percent increase in net income to $57.0 million for the first quarter ended March 29 in spite of a 2.6 percent drop in its overall revenues to $969.2 million. Net earnings from continuing operations were up by 3.8 percent. Operating profit rose by 5.3 percent to $94.7 million, thanks in part to the elimination of former restructuring, exit and impairment charges.
The Fitness segment, which includes Life Fitness and Hammer Strength, raised its sales by 5.7 percent to $175.6 million, but Bowling & Billiards were down by 7.5 percent to $78.8 million and the Marine segment plunged by 3.9 percent to $714.8 million.
Fitness' operating income grew by 22.4 percent to $29.8 percent due to higher sales in the U.S. to health clubs, public facilities and hospitality customers. The segment's sales outside the U.S., which represented 48 percent of its total turnover, went down by one percent in dollars because of unfavorable exchange rates.
The management said that Life Fitness expects to continue to benefit from favorable health and fitness trends and growth in the global health club and hospitality businesses.
The Bowling & Billiards segment suffered a 35 percent decline in international sales because of the divestiture last year of Brunswick's European bowling centers. Nevertheless, excluding this factor, global sales were still down by 3 percent due to the harsh weather conditions in the U.S., which hampered participation in bowling. The segment's operating profit was down by 14.8 percent to $12.7 million.
