Adams Golf reported total sales for the first quarter ended March 31 slipped 4.8% to $22.4 million from $23.5 million in the year-ago period, but net profit improved significantly to $1.7 million, or 21 cents per diluted share, from $363,000 a year ago.

 

Management said the primary drivers of sales for the quarter were the recently-launched Idea a7 and a7OS irons and hybrids along with Speedline Fast 10 drivers and hybrid fairway woods.

 

By product segment, sales of Irons improved slightly to $14.4 million from $13.7 million in Q1 last year and accounted for 64.4% of sales compared with 58.3% of sales a year ago. Management credited the increase in sales to the recently-introduced Idea a7 and a7 OS irons, with a small portion coming from the closeouts of the Idea a3 OS irons and integrated iron sets.

 

Fairway Woods slipped about 15% to $4.6 million from $5.4 million a year ago and accounted for 20.7% of sales compared to 22.9% of sales a year ago.

 

Management said results were driven primarily by sales of the Idea a7 and a7 OS Hybrids and Speedline Fast 10 fairway woods.

 

Net sales of Drivers decreased to $3.9 million, down about 11% from sales of $4.4 million a year ago. Driver sales accounted for 17.4% of net sales as compared to 18.9% in the year-ago period. Management said the primary contributor was the Speedline Fast 10 driver.

 

By region, sales to the U.S. slipped 7.3% and accounted for 81.6% of sales, while sales to the rest of the world was essentially flat. The company said one customer comprised about 25% of net sales for the quarter.

 

Gross margin expanded to 45.0% of net sales in the quarter from 38.4% of net sales in the year-ago period, an improvement that was attributed to changes in product mix and a decrease in component pricing and inbound freight costs. 

 

Inventory declined 12.2% to $17.3 million at period-end.