Samsonite International reported net sales on a currency-neutral basis in the first quarter slid 3.6 percent for the Gregory brand and fell 29.8 percent for High Sierra.
In the three months ended March 31, net sales of the Gregory brand decreased by 1.6 percent (3.6 percent in constant-currency), to $15.8 million.
Samsonite noted that in the North American region, sales of the Gregory brand for the quarter increased $3.4 million, or 102.4 percent (+102.4 percent constant currency), year-on-year. The gains resulted primarily from increased demand for backpacks and other outdoor-related products. In Asia, net sales of the Gregory brand decreased by 35.5 percent (36.9 percent constant-currency), compared to the same period in the previous year.
Net sales of the High Sierra brand decreased 28.0 percent (29.8 percent constant-currency), year-on-year to 4.3 million.
Companywide, Samsonite’s sales in the quarter decreased by 41.0 percent (-42.4 percent constant-currency), to $354.7 million due to the COVID-19 impacts.
Samsonite said its net sales performance continued to improve during the first quarter of 2021. After decreasing by 78.2 percent (77.9 percent constant-currency) year-on-year during the second quarter of 2020, when most of the Group’s markets were subject to government-mandated lockdowns, the year-on-year decline in the Group’s net sales narrowed to 64.6 percent (64.7 percent constant-currency) during the third quarter of 2020 and by 57.6 percent (58.1 percent constant-currency) during the fourth quarter of 2020 as governments began to relax social-distancing restrictions and markets around the world began to reopen. This encouraging trend continued into the first quarter of 2021, with the decline in the Group’s net sales further narrowing to 57.4 percent (57.3 percent constant-currency) when compared to the first quarter of 2019, despite a resurgence in COVID-19 cases and the resulting reinstatement of travel restrictions and social distancing measures in certain markets, particularly in Europe, Latin America and India, which slowed the pace of sales recovery.
Net sales for the month ended April 30, 2021 increased by 143.2 percent (136.4 percent constant-currency) compared to the month ended April 30, 2020, when most of the Group’s wholesale and retail point-of-sale in many of its key markets around the world were temporarily closed due to government-mandated lockdowns. Compared to the month ended April 30, 2019, the Group’s April 2021 net sales decreased by 54.2 percent (54.1 percent constant-currency) due to continued challenging conditions in most markets and particularly in Europe due to continued government-mandated lockdowns and in Latin America and India, which have experienced a resurgence in COVID-19 cases.
Samsonite’s brands include Samsonite, Tumi, American Tourister, Gregory, Speck, and High Sierra.
Photo courtesy Gregory
