The outdoor & action sports division of VF Corp, with brands like The North Face, Vans and Timberland, raised its sales by 2 percent to $1.6 billion for the first quarter ended on April 2. They were up by 4 percent in constant currencies, with increases of 8 percent for TNF, 2 percent for Vans and 3 percent for Timberland. Its operating margin amounted to 13.9 percent, down by 2.3 percentage points from the year-ago period, and the group said that more than half of the decline was due to foreign exchange rate changes. TNF's sales went up by almost 20 percent in Europe and by a high single digit in Asia-Pacific. Vans was down in the low teens in Europe, where it continues to get rid of high inventories of Classics. Timberland's European sales were in the mid-single digits. The turnover of the whole VF group was basically flat at $2.8 billion and up by 2 percent in constant currencies. The growth of the outdoor and action sports division, as well as the jeanswear business, was offset by declines in the imagewear, sportswear and contemporary brands divisions. The group's guidance remains unchanged, with sales projected to increase at a mid-single-digit percentage rate, the gross margin to improve by 0.5 percentage points to 48.8 percent and the operating margin to reach 14.4 percent. More in The Outdoor Industry Compass.

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