The Lafuma Group managed to improve both sales and margins during the first six months of the year, despite challenging economic conditions and sluggish consumption. The French company's revenues gained 6.9 percent over the year-ago period to €85.6 million, with significant disparities among its brands. Millet, Lafuma furniture and the Lafuma outdoor brand grew by 10.0 percent, 8.8 percent and 20.6 percent respectively, while Eider dipped by 3.2 percent and Oxbow dropped by 5.5 percent. However, Oxbow, a surf brand that makes 90.0 percent of its turnover in France, raised its operating margin by 5.3 percentage points to 20.7 percent, thanks to adequate cost control. Overall, the group managed to increase the operating margin by 0.7 percentage points to 1.1 percent. It also secured a net profit of €42,000, compared to a loss of €340,000 in the first six months of 2015. Lafuma said that the trading environment is still hampered by sluggish consumption, especially in Europe, but remains confident that the results for the full year 2016 will be similar to last year's. More in The Outdoor Industry Compass.

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