The French sports retail group is putting most of the blame on unfavorable weather conditions in France and Poland for a 6.0 percent decline in its sales to €170.9 million during the fourth quarter of 2011, with a drop of 4.8 percent on the basis of comparable stores and exchange rates.
On a comparable basis, sales fell by 3.7 percent at its stores in France and by 18.3 percent in Belgium and Poland. In France, however, while the generalist Go Sport chain booked a decline of 7.1 percent, the revamped Courir chain of shops, which focus on athletic footwear, continued to gain momentum with a sales increase of 7.3 percent.
The poor performance in the quarter led Groupe Go Sport into a 0.4 percent decrease in sales for the full year, down to a total of €680.4 million. On a comparable basis, sales were up overall by the same percentage, with an 8.9 percent increase for Courir offsetting declines of 1.7 percent for Go Sport in France and 3.1 percent for Go Sport in Poland.
The company continued to restructure its retail network in the latest quarter, closing down three stores in France and Belgium, but franchisees opened a Go Sport store in Romania and one in Jordan. At the end of the year, the group had a total of 175 Go Sport stores and 174 Courir stores, including 31 Go Sport franchises and 14 Courir franchises.
