K2, Inc. saw third quarter earnings in line with analysts’ estimates as the company reported a 140 increase in pro-forma diluted earnings per share based on the acquisition of Rawlings last year. The pro forma EPS figure was calculated at five cents for the year-ago period versus the reported figure of 21 cents for the period.

The K2 Sports Group, which includes skis, snowboards, in-line skates and bikes, saw Q3 net sales increase 2.0% to $71.3 million, driven by high single digit sales increases in alpine skis and continued double-digit growth in the Ride snowboard business, which K2 believes is the “fastest growing brand in the industry”.

The Sports Group will get another new addition to its portfolio after the company announced last week the acquisition of Winterquest, LLC, the $18.6 million business that includes the Atlas and Tubbs snowshoe brands that control roughly 80% to 85% of the snowshoe market. For more on the Winterquest deal, see this week’s The BOSS Report (BOSS_0343).

Shakespeare worldwide fishing tackle sales for the quarter were down 3.9% to $24.2 million, due primarily to “unfavorable weather”. Shakespeare monofilament sales for the third quarter were $15.8 million, up 12.3% over the year-ago quarter.

Rawlings pushed the overall results to the positive, generating net sales of $20.2 million in the third quarter that were not in the numbers in the year-ago period. The company closed on the acquisition of Worth, Inc. during the quarter and saw Worth CEO Robert Parish take the helm of the Rawlings division.

Stearns' sales were down 10% for the third quarter to $18.4 million, affected primarily by comparisons to military sales in Q3 last year.

Planet Earth, the company’s skate shoe group, generated $10.8 million in sales for the third quarter, which reflects a 154.4% increase compared to Q3 2002.
The company also announced the acquisition of leading paintball supplier Brass Eagle in a merger deal worth nearly $78 million.