Asics Corporation posted a 7% increase in net consolidated revenues for the fiscal year ended March 31, helped by continued gains in Japan and the U.S., but offset a bit by negative trends in Europe. Net income was down slightly for the year, as a strong bottom line gain in Japan was offset by double-digit profit declines in the U.S. and Europe.
Asics Corp. consolidated net sales rose 7.0% to ¥241.9 billion ($2.4 bn) for the 2009 fiscal year ended March 31, compared to ¥226.2 billion ($2.0 bn) for the prior year. Sales in Japan increased 9.9% to ¥102.7 billion ($1.0 bn) from and sales in the U.S. market increased 5.4% to ¥52.9 billion ($529 million). In U.S. dollar terms, sales increased 20% for the year. In Europe, sales declined 10.1% in yen terms to ¥63.9 billion ($639 mm) for the year.
Consolidated gross margins were down 120 basis points to 42.6% of sales, while SG&A improved by 20 basis points to 33.2% of sales for the year. Net income was down 0.1% to ¥13.1 billion ($131 mm).
For the fiscal fourth quarter, posted ¥3.36 billion ($36 mm) in consolidated net income on net sales of ¥57.3 billion ($614 mm). Net sales declined 4.7% for the period versus the year-ago quarter.
Looking ahead, Asics sees consolidated net income of ¥4.0 billion on net sales of ¥108.5 billion for the first half the current fiscal year and net income of ¥10.0 billion on net sales of ¥224.0 billion for the year.
