ASICS Corp. reported 16.7% revenue growth for the first nine months of the year to ¥166.01 billion ($1.42 bn) from ¥142.21 billion ($1.23 bn) for the year-ago period. The company saw strong operating income growth of 14.9% to ¥19.15 billion ($163.5 mm), but only modest growth on the bottom line for the nine-month period as net income grew 1.1% to ¥12.31 billion ($105.1 mm). In addition, Asics has named Motoi Oyama as president and representative director, effective April 1, 2008. He will take over the presidency from Mr. Kiyomi Wada, who will be serving as chairman and representative director.
The company's footwear business saw continuous growth of running and sport lifestyle categories in the U.S. and Europe contribute to a 23.7% revenue boost for the category to ¥124.81 billion ($1.07 bn).
As sales of ASICS Sportstyle apparel in Europe slowed down, apparel revenue ended the period down 2.6% to ¥29.04 billion ($248.0 mm).
The equipment business grew on increased sales of baseball equipment in Japan, up 6.1% to ¥12.16 billion ($103.9 mm).
