SGB Executive Outdoor

Signa Sports Prepares for Insolvency Filings
Signa Sports United (SSU), which earlier last week confirmed that it had lost a major funding commitment from its parent company, said its subsidiary, Tennis-Point GmbH, had filed for insolvency and the overall company is preparing for insolvency proceedings in the coming days.

EXEC: Vista Outdoor’s Guidance Cut Surprises Wall Street
Analysts said Vista Outdoor’s agreement to sell its Sporting Products segment business to Czechoslovak Group (CSG) for $1.91 billion appeared largely in line with the businesses’ valuation. Vista’s 24 percent stock drop on Monday was attributed to Vista’s sharp guidance cut tied to the deteriorating Outdoor Products business.

VF Corp.’s Shares Jump on Activist Investor’s Move
Shares of VF Corp. jumped 14 percent on Tuesday after activist investor Engaged Capital reported that it had built a stake in the owner of Vans and The North Face and planned to push for changes, including steep cost cuts, divestitures of non-core assets and a board overhaul.

EXEC: Inside the Six-Year Growth Plan for Osprey, Hydro Flask Parent
At its Investor Day on Tuesday, Helen of Troy, the parent of Hydro Flask and Osprey, outlined an “Elevate for Growth” platform designed to annually expand sales between 3 percent and 4 percent and EPS by 10 percent or greater over the next six years.

EXEC: Adidas Ups Full-Year Guidance on Improved Preliminary Q3 Results
Adidas now expects full-year 2023 currency-neutral revenues to decline at a low-single-digit rate in 2023 compared to its previous forecast of a mid-single-digit decline. An operating loss of around €100 million is now forecast, compared to its previous estimates for a loss of €450 million for the year.

EXEC: Sports Direct Parent Acquires Top Germany Sports Retailer
Frasers Group plc, the parent company of UK-based sports retailer Sports Direct, entered into a binding agreement with Signa Retail Department Store Holding GmbH to acquire SportScheck, one of the top sports retailers in Germany.

EXEC: Vista Outdoor Cuts Fiscal Year Outlook After Q2 Weakness
Along with the sale of its Sporting Products business to Czechoslovak Group. (CSG), Vista Outdoor announced that it was slashing its full-year guidance, largely due to weakness at its Outdoor Products segment.

EXEC: Vista Outdoor to Sell Ammo Business to Czechoslovak Group
Vista Outdoor announced that it planned to sell its Sporting Products business to Czechoslovak Group. (CSG) for $1.91 billion, shifting from a planned spinoff of its Outdoor Products segment. Gary McArthur, interim CEO, said, “We believe this creates meaningful value for stockholders, and sets up both Sporting Products and Outdoor Products for long-term success.”

EXEC: Giant Group Sales Fall in Third Quarter
Consolidated revenue for the third quarter declined 24.5 percent year-over-year as sales in each month of the quarter declined more than 20 percent. Still, the decrease in September was a a sequential improvement versus sharper declines in July and August.

Consumer Prices Rose More Than Forecast in September; Apparel CPI Declines
One bright spot for consumers was in the month-over-month CPI for Apparel, which declined 0.8 percent from August, most likely owing to the de-stocking and promotional environment at retail.

EXEC: Volumental’s Brent Hollowell Talks Fit for Feet
Volumental, the Swedish footwear fit tech company, recently hired industry veteran Brent Hollowell as general manager for its North American operations, responsible for accelerating growth in the region. Hollowell talked with SGB Executive about his role, Volumental’s push into North America, the barriers to fit tech, and the potential of generative AI in the fit process.

EXEC: Sports Direct Parent Expands Stake in Norwegian Retailer
Shares of XXL, the struggling Oslo-listed sports retailer, are reportedly surging after the company reported that Frasers Group, the UK-based parent of Sports Direct, purchased 117.4 million shares of the company, bringing its total holding to 162.1 million.

EXEC: BRC Sees Weaker UK Retail Growth in September as Non-Food Sales Decline
The British Retail Consortium reported that total UK retail sales were 2.7 percent in September, against a growth of 2.2 percent in September 2022, supported by a 9.5 percent inflation rate.

EXEC: JD Sports Completes Shares Purchase of Iberian Sports Retail Group
Effective October 10, JD acquired 49.98 percent of shares of ISRG from Balaiko Firaja Invest, S.L. and Sonae Holdings, S.A. for cash consideration of €500.1 million ($531.2 million) and now owns 100 percent of ISRG shares.

Report: UK Holiday Spending Increase Will Fall Short of Inflation Growth
The 3.4 percent growth for the holiday selling period, driven by 9.3 percent inflation for the year, still falls short of last year’s increase and marks a second quarter of slowing growth in 2023.