Jarden Corporation, the parent company for the Coleman business, saw its second quarter sales more than triple due to the acquisitions of American Household, Colemans former parent company. Net sales increased 279% to $754 million compared to $199 million for the same period last year. Net income increased 104% to $32.8 million, compared to $16.0 million in Q2 2004.
The Outdoor Solutions segment, which includes Coleman, recorded sales of $299 million in Q2 and operating income of $40.1 million in the second quarter. The company had previously forecast $293 million in sales. Adjusted operating margins for the three-month period were 13.4%. Excluding $19 million in sales lost due to one key customer, Outdoor Solutions experienced organic sales growth of 3.3% driven by new product introductions including tents, sleeping bags, water recreational items, and the new Roadtrip Grill. The only significant areas of weakness were said to be in coolers and the International business.
Jarden CEO Martin Franklin is convinced that the greatest near-term opportunity for the company is with the Coleman brand, and Jarden will be investing in marketing and advertising the brand. During a Q&A session with analysts he said that over the past ten years Coleman has produced two commercials and never aired them. The brand recently ran its first TV commercial in a decade, and reportedly, sales at retail were immediately impacted.
“We ran the first multi-million dollar TV advertising campaign for Coleman tent in over 10 years during the quarter, and it was gratifying to see that the reaction to the brand, the product, and the created presentation turning into over $5 million of sales increases so far this year in this category.” Franklin said.
