Mizuno Corp. is maintaining its fiscal full-year sales and earnings forecast despite fairly flat sales for the nine-month year-to-date fiscal period and a swing to a net loss for the fiscal third quarter period. The Japanese sporting goods company had lowered its full-year forecasts the previous two years after weak fiscal third quarter sales results.
Though Mizuno, like other Japanese public companies, only reports year-to-date results for the period, a comparison to first half results shows fiscal Q3 sales for the quarter ended December 31 inched up 1.0% to ¥35.0 billion ($424 mm) from ¥34.6 billion ($385 mm) for the prior-year period. The gain partially reversed a 9.9% decline in the prior year period. The company swung to a net loss of ¥214 million ($2.6 mm) after a prior-year fiscal Q3 net profit of ¥159 million ($1.8 mm).
Asia saw a reversal of fortunes this fiscal year, with revenues increasing 14.4% to ¥2.36 billion ($29 million). The domestic Japanese market eked out a 0.1% gain for the fiscal third quarter to ¥26.2 billion ($318 million) and Europe, which was the bright spot in the prior-year period with a 21% sales increase, posted a 2.9% increase in sales to ¥1.77 billion ($21 mm). The Americas business was off 0.6% to ¥4.65 billion ($56 mm) when measured in Japanese Yen terms, but increased 8.1% when measured in U.S. dollar terms.
On the product side, the hardgoods categories appear to be the drag on the overall business.
The Golf business was the biggest decliner for the quarter, with sales falling 14.0% to ¥5.62 billion when measured in Yen terms. The Baseball business was down 8.4% to ¥6.52 billion. However, Mizuno’s Footwear business was instrumental in offsetting those declines, growing 15.6% in the fiscal third quarter to just shy of ¥7.0 billion ($85 mm), while Apparel increased 2.3% to ¥6.85 billion ($83 mm). Footwear was 20% of overall Mizuno revenues for fiscal Q3, compared to 17.5% in the prior-year period.
For the fiscal nine-month year-to-date period, Mizuno saw growth in the Golf business in Europe and Americas and in the Footwear business across all geographies. Sales growth reportedly came primarily from the non-Japan regions, where sales rose 19.5% in Europe and 15.5% in the Americas and 1.3% in Asia on a currency-neutral basis. In Europe, double-digit growth was achieved in all categories, including 14% growth in the Footwear category. In the Americas, while sales of Golf remained mostly unchanged, there was double-digit increase in other categories. With Footwear, in Particular, boasting 30% currency-neutral growth. In Asia, business growth in Taiwan was said to be “remarkable,” with Footwear sales increasing 25% for the fiscal YTD period.
The company updated its forecast of consolidated results for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2011, with the sales forecast holding steady at ¥150 billion, operating income at ¥4.5 billion and net income at ¥2 billion.
