Brunswick Corporation reported that total sales for its fourth quarter were $657.3 million, down 22% from $837.7 million a year earlier. Despite this drop in Q4 sales, Brunswick remains optimistic for the future in regard to its fitness and bowling equipment businesses. Brunswick Chairman and CEO Dusty McCoy, supports this optimism by stating that “life fitness and bowling and billiards continue to generate strong cash flows.”
In the fourth quarter, sales for Brunswick bowling and billiards were down 15% and 27%, respectively, in comparison to Q4 a year ago. In addition, McCoy added that the company’s “exercise and bowling equipment businesses, which focus on commercial customers that rely on financing to fund purchases declined more significantly.”
For Q4, the fitness segment reported operating earnings of $20.5 million, including $0.5 million of restructuring charges. This compares with operating earnings of $25.6 million, including restructuring charges of $1.2 million, in the fourth quarter of 2008.
In the bowling and billiards segment, sales in the fourth quarter of 2009 totaled $82.2 million, down 27% compared with $113.2 million in the year-ago quarter. For the quarter, the segment reported operating earnings of $2.2 million, including restructuring charges of $0.5 million. This compares with operating earnings of $16.6 million, including impairment and restructuring charges of $3.8 million in the fourth quarter of 2008.
