Newell Brands Inc. reported that its Play segment, formerly K2’s Outdoor Solutions segment, generated net sales of $611 million in the third quarter, a 2.4 percent increase compared with $597 million in the prior year. Core sales grew 2.3 percent, reflecting growth in all three businesses with strong increases in Team Sports and Fishing.

Reported operating income was $69 million compared with $4 million in the prior year. Reported operating margin was 11.2 percent of sales, versus 0.6 percent in the prior year. The improvement is largely due to the benefit of cost synergies and savings and the absence of the negative impact of inventory step-up related to the acquired Jarden businesses in the prior year. Normalized operating income was $78 million versus $71 million in the prior year. Normalized operating margin was 12.8 percent of sales compared with 12 percent last year.

The Play segment includes Coleman, Campingaz, Marmot, Contigo and Bubba in the Outdoor & Recreation category; Abu Garcia, Berkley, Shakespeare, Penn and Ugly Stik in the Fishing category; and Rawlings in the Team Sports category.

Photo courtesy Marmot