Leatt Corporation – manufacturer of protective equipment and ancillary products for many forms of sports, especially extreme high-velocity sports – reported revenues rose 2.5 percent in the first quarter ended March 31, to $5.82 million from $4.83 million a year ago.

Net income was $272,000, or 5 cents per share, compared to $113,000, or 2 cents, last year.

“We had an excellent first quarter, our best since the company’s inception in terms of revenue, which made for a very strong and promising start to 2017,” said CEO Sean Macdonald. “Our global revenues were up 21 percent and our EBIDTA increased by 82 percent. Our entire team was delighted to see apparel sales – a relatively new category for us – gaining traction, and increases in sales of neck braces, body armor and knee braces during the quarter. While our revenues may fluctuate from quarter to quarter at this stage of our development, we are all energized by the promise and potential for the rest of the year. We continue to build on our strategic goal of expanding our pipeline of unique, precision engineered, extraordinary protective gear designed to enable riders at all levels to push themselves to more physical heights.”

“We have invested in the global bicycle industry, a potentially expansive revenue stream for us. We are aggressively building out our bicycle line of products and our global bicycle distribution network. Another key highlight of the 2017 first quarter was the shipping of our highly-anticipated 3.0 all mountain bicycle helmets to our customers worldwide.  Shortly after the quarter ended, we launched our entire 2017 bicycle line, including the new bicycle helmets, to consumers, dealers and media at the Sea Otter Classic in California,” Macdonald said.

First Quarter Highlights

  • Sales growth in neck brace, body armor and apparel increased revenue by 21 percent; an increase of almost $1 million
  • Neck brace revenues increased 26 percent, with growth in both U.S. and international markets
  • Body Armor sales increased 26 percent
  • Latest generation knee brace, the C-Frame Pro, shipped to customers
  • Highly anticipated 3.0 all mountain helmets shipped to customers

Founder and Chairman Christopher Leatt added, “We continue to lead in product engineering and innovation, as demonstrated by our latest generation knee brace, the C-Frame Pro, which shipped in the 2017 first quarter. Designed by our biomedical engineering team, this medically certified knee brace is our lightest, slimmest, most durable knee brace, featuring great comfort while eliminating excessive forces to the femur and tibia, reducing potential ACL, MCL and meniscus injuries by reducing rotational forces and lateral loading as well as a better, longer lasting hinge mechanism that replicates the natural motions of the knee joint.”

Business Outlook

“Based on our strong start and our growing catalogue of innovative products, we believe that 2017 will be an important year in terms of revenue growth and increased shareholder value.  While periodic fluctuations may occur in the coming quarters, we are pleased to see the purchasing patterns and inventory stock holdings of some of our largest international customers begin to stabilize after the negative impact of currency fluctuations in prior periods,” Macdonald said. 

Photo courtesy Leatt