While its apparel sales slowed in Europe, strong sales of running and sport lifestyle footwear in the region helped push up ASICS’ European business by 19.3 percent to 36.57 billion yen (€226.7m-$336.4m) in the first half of its fiscal year, ended Sept. 30, and these sales generated 20.8 percent higher operating income of ¥6.64 billion (€41.2m-$61.1m). The Japanese company’s overall revenues climbed by 14 percent to ¥108.74 billion (€674.2m-$1,000.4m), and its net income jumped by 18.2 percent to ¥8.29 billion (€51.4m-$76.3m). While its footwear revenues rose by 19.6 percent to ¥80.88 billion (€501.5m-$744.1m), apparel sales dropped by 3.3 percent to ¥19.25 billion (€119.4m-$177.1m), largely due to the slowdown in Europe. For the full fiscal year, the group is now projecting a 17.5 percent increase in sales to ¥228.6 billion (€1,417.3m-$2,103.1m) and an 8.1 percent rise in net income to ¥15.0 billion (€93m-$138m).