The Acushnet Co., the division of Fortune Brands that includes the Titleist and FootJoy brands, reported revenues for the first quarter ended March 31 edged up 1.9% to $353.6 million from $347.0 million a year ago. Comparable sales for the Golf segment were up 3%.
In a conference call with analysts, management for Fortune Brands said new products from Titleist and FootJoy served as major catalysts for growth. Notably, management mentioned the Pro V1 golf ball, the Next Generation AP1 and AP2 irons, Vokey Wedges and Scotty Cameron by Titleist putters as major market share movers during the quarter.
Management said despite lower rounds played and inclement weather in warm weather U.S. locations, the consumer is responding favorably to product launches. Geographically, sales to the U.S. market slipped, while the international markets were lower in Europe and Japan, but up strongly in Korea, the Pacific Basin and Latin America.
Acushnet operating income was $44.4 million, up from $9.0 million a year ago. Despite margin improvement for the in Q1, management said results for the quarter dont indicate that the segment will achieve its goal of single digit to low double-digit margin improvement for the full year of fiscal 2010.
By product, management said sales of golf balls were modestly lower due to tough year-ago comparisons that included the launch of a new Pro V1 product. Sales of Titleist golf clubs were up mid-single digits, reflecting strength of the aforementioned products. FootJoy, sales of shoes were up double digits on shipments of Icon, Sports and E-comfort models. Sales of FootJoy gloves and accessories were also up double digits.
Acushnet, which recently sold its Cobra Golf brand to Puma, said divesting the Cobra brand enables us to concentrate investments entirely behind our industry-leading Titlesist and FootJoy brands.
