SGB Executive Apparel

EXEC: Brands Act Fast on PFAS Changes as EPA Proposes New National Rules
California-based Liberated said this week it deployed an initial assessment of its Spyder products resulting in a multiple-season plan to phase out PFAS from its branded skiwear, joining other brands making the hard choice in 2024.

EXEC: Shimano Forecasts 2024 Double-Digit Sales and Profit Decline
Fiscal full-year 2023 net sales decreased 24.6 percent from the prior year to ¥474.36 billion. Operating income decreased 50.5 percent to ¥83.65 billion, and net income attributable to owners of the parent company decreased 52.3 percent to ¥61.14 billion.

EXEC: Brooks Running Exceeds $1.2 Billion in Sales in 2023
Brooks DTC e-commerce channels reportedly grew 24 percent in global revenue YoY, including record-breaking sales from Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday, up 22 percent in North America versus 2022. China DTC jumped 194 percent for the year.

EXEC: Tiger and Taylormade Launch Sun Day Red with Brad Blankenship at Helm
After a month of speculation, on Monday, Tiger Woods and Taylormade Golf introduced the golf legend’s new brand and line of clothing, accessories and footwear. Brad Blankenship, the former global GM for Quiksilver and RVCA, will lead the brand.

Decathlon Sells 82 European Stores in €527 Million Sale and Leaseback Deal
Realty Income Corporation has entered into a sale-leaseback transaction for 82 retail properties leased to affiliates of Decathlon SE. The portfolio includes properties located in Germany, France, Spain, Italy, and Portugal.

EXEC: Asics Corp. Posts Strong 2023 Growth; Sees Slower Growth in 2024, a Decline in NA
North America region net sales increased 8.8 percent to ¥114.62 billion due to the strong sales of the Performance Running and Core Performance Sports categories. Segment income increased significantly to ¥1.44 billion. North America sales to decline 3 percent in 2024.

EXEC: Under Armour CEO Sees Less Promotional, More Premium Online Presence
UA now expects revenue in North America to be down at a high-single-digit rate versus the previous expectation of a 5 to 7 percent decline, and turning to the International business that is now seen to be down at a high-single-digit rate versus the previous low-double-digit rate increase.

EXEC: Fledgling Activewear Brand Has a Less Than Perfect Moment in IPO Effort
Perfect Moment, whose PMNT ticker symbol would be better for a Buy Now, Pay Later company than an active apparel company, fell throughout the day after Thursday’s debut, close down 13.3 percent to $5.20 at the close.

EXEC: Mizuno Corp. Raises FY Forecast Despite Lower Fiscal Q3 Growth
Sales grew 11.0 percent in the fiscal third quarter ended December 31, a deceleration from the 23.8 percent growth in the first half, but the solid start to the year and surging profitability is driving the outlook higher.

EXEC: Ahead, Craft, Cutter & Buck Parent Posts Sales and Profit Declines in Q4
The Swedish-based owner of Ahead, Auclair, Craft, Cutter & Buck, and Tenson AB, reported that fourth quarter net sales declined 3 percent to SEK 2,735.9 million from SEK 2,815.1 million in Q4 last year.

EXEC: VF Sees The North Face Fiscal Q3 Results “Worse Than Expectations”
Global revenue for The North Face was down 10 percent (-11 percent CC) to $1.19 billion in the quarter. Excluding a wholesale shipment timing shift, The North Face’s revenue would have reportedly declined in the mid-single-digits. DTC was up in mid-single-digits for Q3.

EXEC: VF Execs Outline Progress Against Transformation Plan, Brand and Region Review
The big jobs ahead are based on fixing the overall Americas business and delivering a turnaround in the Vans business. The key objective of the Reinvent program involves cutting costs and building the balance, which is reportedly both well underway.

EXEC: Vans Falls 29 Percent in Q3; Inventory Down as Brand Helps Create OTB
VF execs talked about refreshing the Vans brand product at retail and revealed that they were removing slow-moving inventory from retailers to create open-to-buy for stronger product that was moving in the market. Inventory was down 30 percent at quarter-end.

Descente, Ltd. Posts Fiscal YTD Sales Increase Despite Golfwear Decline
Gains from the incorporation of Le Coq Sportif (Ningbo) Co. Ltd. and increased sales in the athleticwear category were larger than the decrease in sales in the golfwear category and the termination of the Marmot license in Japan in December 2022.

EXEC: 361 Degrees Pre-Announces Healthy Q4 Profit Growth
Profit attributable to the equity shareholders of the company for the year ended December 31, 2023 is expected to increase by not less than 25 percent year-over-year.