Lafuma reported that revenues for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2007 net revenues increased 3.1% to €250.5 million ($333.3 mm) from €243.0 million ($299.1 mm) the year before. Sales outside of France increased 8.1%. Net income, however, decreased 31.8% to €3.0 million ($4.0 mm) from €4.4 million ($5.4 mm) in the previous fiscal year. The company noted that the market situation proved difficult due to weather conditions.


Decreases were posted mainly by Lafuma and Millet as sales for the 2 brands were hit hardest by unfavorable weather conditions, as well as by delivery delays. The company estimated  the combined impact at €4 million in sales. Lafuma slightly improved its operating profits, at -2.5% versus –2.7% including a restructuring provision of €0.9 million. Millet posted operating profits of +7.7% compared to +10.6% in 2006 in spite of a difficult market context. The turnaround in sales for Le Chameau (+11.5%) and in operating margins (5% versus 1.6 %) helped to offset the Lafuma softness, and the steady growth of Oxbow sales (+9.8%) and profits (11.1% versus 12.6%) aided as well.


The 8 new store openings over the second half of the fiscal year had a negative impact of about €600k on operating profits between launching and investment expenses. The international business was impacted by operating expenses, up €650k, a large portion of which can be considered as investments for the future of the group. This can be viewed in the light of growth posted in export sales of 8.1% with particularly encouraging financial results, for example, the Chinese subsidiary broke even in only its 2nd FY of existence and our English subsidiary experienced 17% growth in net profits.