Acushnet Holdings Corp., the parent of Titleist, reported first-quarter net income of $41.5 million, up 8.9 percent year-over-year. Sales reached $441.8 million, up 1.9 percent year-over-year, down 2.2 percent in constant currency.

Acushnet maintained guidance for the full year.

“As the golf season opens up around the globe, the industry is structurally in a good place and generally optimistic in what has been an exciting start to the season across the worldwide tours,” said David Maher, Acushnet’s president and chief executive officer. “While weather patterns have been a factor early this year, Acushnet is off to a solid start as we continue to execute on our longterm strategy, with good momentum across our various product categories.”

“Innovation, the measured introduction of new products, and the breadth and depth of our business are key factors in our on-going success, and this quarter our Associates and trade partners continued to deliver,” continued Maher. “While the Titleist ball business was comping against the successful 2017 launch of the new Pro V1 and Pro V1x, our recently introduced Tour Soft and Velocity models grew nicely. Club results were driven by continued strength in Titleist 718 irons and the new Vokey SM7 wedges and Cameron Select putters released in March. Titleist gear continued its steady growth and the new FootJoy Tour-S shoe is off to a great start. We have also recently rolled out the new Titleist AVX golf ball in North America and we look forward to fully activating our golf ball and club fitting efforts as the season unfolds.”

Consolidated net sales for the quarter increased by 1.9 percent, down 2.2 percent on a constant currency basis, primarily as a result of a sales volume decline in Pro V1 and Pro V1x golf balls, which were launched in the first quarter of 2017. On a geographic basis, consolidated net sales in the United States decreased by 1.7 percent in the quarter. Net sales in regions outside the United States were up 5.7 percent, down 2.7 percent on a constant currency basis. On a constant currency basis, EMEA was down 5.2 percent, Japan down 1.4 percent and Korea down 2.3 percent.

Segment specifics:

  • 6.9 percent decrease in net sales (9.8 percent decrease on a constant currency basis) of Titleist golf balls
    as a result of a sales volume decline in Pro V1 and Pro V1x golf balls, which were in their
    second year of the two-year product life cycle and partially offset by a sales volume increase
    of the newly introduced performance models. In the U.S., sales volumes were impacted by
    unfavorable weather conditions.
  • 14.7 percent increase in net sales (10.4 percent increase on a constant currency basis) of Titleist golf
    clubs driven by higher sales volumes, primarily due to wedges launched in the quarter
    and the iron series introduced in the third quarter of 2017, partially offset by lower sales
    volumes of drivers and fairways, which were in their second year of the two-year product life
    cycle.
  • 4.6 percent increase in net sales (0.4 percent increase on a constant currency basis) of Titleist golf gear.
    This increase was driven primarily by higher average selling prices across all categories of
    the gear business.
  • 1.1 percent decrease in net sales (5.7 percent decrease on a constant currency basis) in FootJoy golf
    wear primarily due to a sales volume decline in footwear as a result of the timing of new
    product launches compared to prior year and unfavorable weather conditions, partially offset
    by higher average selling prices across all FootJoy categories and a sales volume increase in
    apparel.

Net income attributable to Acushnet improved by $3.4 million to $41.5 million, up 8.9 percent year over
year, primarily as a result of lower tax expense, partially offset by higher interest expense and lower
income from operations.

Adjusted EBITDA was $77.1 million, down 1.8 percent year-over-year. Adjusted EBITDA margin was
17.4 percent for the first quarter versus 18.1 percent for the prior year period.

Declares Quarterly Cash

Acushnet’s board of directors today declared a quarterly cash dividend in an amount of $0.13 per
share of common stock. The dividend will be payable on June 15, 2018, to stockholders of record
on June 1, 2018. The number of shares outstanding as of April 27, 2018 was 74,744,536.

2018 Outlook

  • Consolidated net sales are expected to be approximately $1,590 to 1,620 million.
  • Consolidated net sales on a constant currency basis are expected to be in the range of up
    1.3 percent to 3.2 percent.
  • Adjusted EBITDA is expected to be approximately $225 to 235 million

Photo courtesy Titleist