New Wave Group, the Swedish owner of Craft, Cutter & Buck and several other sports brands, lifted its sales by 6 percent to 4,274 million Swedish kronor (€452.6m-$514.0m) last year. This tally encompasses sports products as well as corporate promo items, gifts and furnishings.
Operating profit amounted to SEK 250 million (€26.5m-$30.1m), which was a decline of 14 percent, after the New Wave group abundantly invested in marketing. It ended the year with net profit of SEK 176.9 million (€18.7m-$21.3), down by 5.4 percent.
The Sports & Leisure division chalked up sales of SEK 1,952.5 million (€206.7m-$234.8m) for the year, which was an increase of 1.2 percent on 2013. Along with Craft and Cutter & Buck, the division comprises Clique Retail, Seger and several other brands, as well as distribution deals for Umbro and Speedo. Its Ebitda shrank by 12.6 percent to SEK 135.3 million (€14.3m-$16.3m).
The group pointed to a change in distribution for the Sports & Leisure division, with a decline in retail sales and more turnover going through promotional sales channels. This drop in retail sales mostly occurred in the U.S. market but the Nordics and other European countries were affected due to the mild winter as well.
The division was hurt by the delayed start of the golf season in the United States, which reduced sales for the Cutter & Buck brand. The sports brands fared better in the Nordic countries and in other European markets, although the mild winter diminished re-orders of winter products toward the end of the year. The turnover of the Sports & Leisure division was nearly unchanged for the last quarter, up by just 0.6 percent to SEK 502.8 million (€53.2m-$60.5m), while the entire group's sales were up by 11 percent for the three months.
The group's chief executive, Torsten Jansson, was encouraged that its performance improved in the second half and wants to expand further this year on the back of the investments made in 2014. The company said investments this year would continue with the launch of several product segments and brands, such as Cutter & Buck Europe.
It could not be established exactly what this involves. Cutter & Buck has been sold in Europe for many years, in partnership with an Irish-based licensee, Premium Golf Brands (PGB). This partnership still applies for the U.K. and Ireland but the scope of the PGB license was reduced last year, no longer covering Spain, Portugal and Turkey.
