Acushnet, the company behind Titleist, Footjoy, Pinnacle and other assets in the golf market, posted revenues for the first six months of 2016 that were up by 4.6 percent to $903.0 million, or by 5.6 percent in constant currencies. In an updated regulatory filing to support its public offering, the company said this growth was largely due to an increase of 9.0 percent in sales of Titleist golf clubs to $240.3 million, with an increase of 9.0 percent also in constant currencies, driven by the new wedges and irons introduced at the end of last year.
However, Titleist golf balls continued to see weakness. Sales declined by 2.8 percent to $296.2 million - and were down by 1.7 percent in constant currencies - due to a decline in the sales of its latest generation Pro V1 and Pro V1x golf balls, which were in their second model year. The decline was partly offset by gains in its newly introduced performance golf balls, which carry a lower average selling price than its Pro V1 franchise. Sales of Titleist golf gear also grew, gaining $9.3 million over the year ago quarter. Meanwhile, FootJoy's sales rose by 6.0 percent to $249.2 million, or by 7.0 percent in constant currencies, driven by sales growth in apparel and gloves.
In the U.S., sales inched up by 2.3 percent to $482.7 million. Abroad, they increased by 7.5 percent to $420.3 million, advancing by 9.7 percent in constant currencies. In dollars, they rose by 8 percent to $137.7 million in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, by 12 percent to $107.6 million in Japan and by 15 prcent to $82.4 million in Korea.
The company's gross margin was down by 1.6 percentage points to 50.9 percent, primarily due to lower gains on foreign currency exchange contracts versus the year-ago period. Adjusted operating earnings before amortization (Ebitda) rose by 2.5 percent to $164.4 million, while net earnings soared by 82.6 percent to $25.7 million.
As previously reported, the company filed for an initial public offering in June with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to raise up to $100 million for the group of investors around Fila Korea that bought the golf equipment company from Fortune Brands for $1,230 million in 2011.
