Easton-Bell Sports, Inc. had net sales of $184.9 million for the first quarter ended April 4, an increase of 1.5% as compared to $182.1 million in revenues in the year-ago quarter. The revenue increase was dampened by the strengthening of the U.S. dollar versus the Canadian dollar and the euro. On a currency-neutral basis, the companys net sales for the first quarter increased 4.3%.
Team Sports division net sales rose 6.9% to $107.8 million compared to $100.8 million in last years first quarter. The increase in Team Sports net sales during the quarter related to increased sales of football helmets, ice hockey sticks and reconditioning services, partially offset by lower sales of licensed consumer products and baseball and softball equipment.
Action Sports net sales, which includes snow sports and cycling products under the Easton, Bell and Giro brand names, were $77.1 million for the first quarter, a 5.2% decrease from $81.3 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2008. The decrease in Action Sports net sales related to reduced sales of fitness products in the Mass channel and reduced sales of components to bicycle manufacturers, partially offset by the introduction of cycling gloves in the specialty channel.
Gross margin was down 90 points for the quarter, due to the sale of products purchased prior to renegotiating supplier costs, consumers trading down to lower price points, and the impact of close out sales in snow and power sports helmets in the specialty channel. In addition, the impact of foreign exchange rates on our hockey cost of goods sold for the quarter was approximately 50 basis points. Team Sports gross margin decreased 90 basis points 36.2% of sales and Action Sports gross margin decreased 150 basis points 27.5% of sales.
Net income for the quarter fell more than 59% to $1.0 million, a decline management attributed increased product cost, sales mix from consumers trading down price points, and increased spending on selling, marketing and information technology.
