Asics Corporation is bumping up its full-year guidance after strong second-quarter and first-half results, with “exceptional growth” in the SportStyle and Onitsuka Tiger businesses.

Asics reported that net sales for the fiscal second quarter are ¥167.8 billion, a 21.8 percent increase compared to the previous fiscal year second quarter.

  • By category, SportStyle sales grew 79.5 percent, Onitsuka Tiger jumped 60.4 percent and Performance Running grew 18.6 percent in the second quarter compared to the prior-year comparative period.
  • By region, Greater China reportedly had steady sales growth of 37.7 percent, and Southeast and South Asia increased by 30.3 percent compared to the previous fiscal year second quarter. In addition, Asics Japan had sales growth of 24.3 percent, North America grew 16.2 percent, Europe increased 26.9 percent, and Oceania was up 22.1 percent year-over-year for the quarter.

Consolidated net sales for the fiscal half (H1) are forecasted to reach ¥341.9 billion, an increase of 17.9 percent compared to the fiscal 2023 first half.

  • By category, SportStyle had sales growth of 64.1 percent in H1, Onitsuka Tiger was up 55.4 percent and Performance Running grew 14.4 percent compared to the previous fiscal year H1 period ended June 30.
  • By region, Greater China reportedly had steady sales growth of 31.7 percent. Southeast and South Asia increased 31.3 percent year-over-year for the six-month period. Asics Japan posted sales growth of 23.8 percent for the period and North America increased 21.0 percent, Europe was up 16.7 percent and Oceania increased 9.4 percent.

Revised Forecast
Asics Corporation is now forecasting that, based on year-to-date results, net sales for the full fiscal year are expected to continue to perform well in categories including SportStyle, mainly driven by revival models such as Gel-1130 and Gel-Kayano 14 and Onitsuka Tiger, with continuous sales growth in Japan and Greater China. Regions, including Japan, North America, Europe, and Greater China, are expected to continue to grow.

With the update of currency exchange rates, net sales for the full year are expected to reach a record high of ¥660 billion. Net sales are expected to grow 6.9 percent from the previous full-year forecast of ¥550 billion, excluding the impact of currency changes, or an increase of 15.7 percent versus ¥570.5 billion in fiscal 2023.

Gross margin for the fiscal first half improved by 430 basis points to 54.5 percent of sales compared to the previous fiscal year H1 period. Asics said it expects to continue to improve by roughly 3 percent to approximately 55 percent compared to the previous fiscal year through the optimization of product lineup, selling price and sales channel.

Selling, general and administrative expenses to sales ratio for the full year is expected to improve to approximately 41 percent of sales with a focus on strict cost control along with the sales increase and improvement in gross margin.

Resulting operating income, ordinary income, and profit attributable to parent owners are also expected to reach record highs. Operating income is expected to increase 58.8 percent from the previous forecast, excluding the impact of currency changes.

Image courtesy Asics Corp./Urban Outfitters