Mizuno Corp. reported sales grew in strong double-digits in the fiscal first quarter ended June 30, driven by double-digit growth across all categories. The Japan-based company is maintaining its forecast for sales of ¥225 billion in fiscal full-year 2023 after reaching ¥206 billion in fiscal 2022 ended March 31.

Total revenues increased 11.0 percent to ¥57.2 billion in the fiscal first quarter, compared to ¥46.2 billion in the year-ago period, with the highest percentage growth coming to the Footwear segment, which also delivered the highest volume for the period.

  • Footwear segment sales jumped 46.3 percent to ¥18.0 billion in Q1, compared to ¥12.3 billion in fiscal Q1 last year when sales inched up just 0.8 percent. The gain was attributed to a recovery from issues related to supply chain disruptions over the last year.
  • Apparel segment sales grew 13.9 percent to ¥15.0 billion in Q1 from ¥13.2 billion in the year-ago period, with the Work category called out by the company as a key contributor to the increase.
  • Equipment segment sales increased 13.3 percent to ¥15.7 billion in Q1 from 13.8 billion in the prior-year period, driven primarily by Baseball and Golf.
  • Service/Others segment sales improved to ¥8.5 billion from ¥6.9 billion last year, a 23.4 percent increase for the period.

From a category perspective, main business categories such as Baseball, Golf, Football, etc., were said to all performed well in the quarter. Running, primarily impacted by the Footwear segment, recovered from supply chain disruption, and sales in Golf were said to have remained strong while Football grew globally. The growth in the non-sports category was primarily led by the Work business.

  • Baseball sales grew 20.5 percent to ¥11.6 billion in the first quarter, compared to ¥9.6 billion in the year-ago quarter.
  • Golf sales grew 12.3 percent to ¥9.9 billion in the first quarter, compared to ¥8.8 billion in the year-ago quarter.
  • Running sales grew 52.9 percent to ¥6.9 billion in the first quarter, compared to ¥4.5 billion in the year-ago quarter.
  • Football sales grew 83.0 percent to ¥3.9 billion in the first quarter, compared to ¥2.1 billion in the year-ago quarter.
  • Indoor sales, which includes volleyball, badminton, table tennis, basketball, etc. grew 20.4 percent to ¥3.3 billion in the first quarter, compared to ¥2.7 billion in the year-ago quarter.
  • Work/Business category sales grew 38.4 percent to ¥3.0 billion in the first quarter, compared to ¥2.2 billion in the year-ago quarter.
  • Sports Facilities revenues grew 11.3 percent to ¥6.1 billion in the first quarter, compared to ¥5.5 billion in the year-ago quarter.

From a regional perspective, the largest region for Mizuno, their Japan home territory was the only region to not post very strong double-digit sales in the quarter. The company said that the overseas sales ratio increased by 740 basis points in the period to 43.1 percent of total global sales.

  • Japan region sales rose 9.6 percent to ¥29.7 billion in Q1 from ¥29.7 billion in the year-ago quarter. While the region posted to least positive growth, it still approached double digits and represented an acceleration for the fiscal Q1 trend in the year-ago period. The company said Baseball, Football, Work, etc. all performed well in Japan in the quarter.
  • The Americas region posted 46.7 percent revenue growth in the first quarter to ¥10.4 billion, compared to ¥7.1 billion in the year-ago period. The growth came on top of low-teens growth in Q1 last year.
  • The EMEA region posted the highest growth rate for the quarter, surging 51.3 percent versus a 12.0 percent quarterly decline last year. Revenues were ¥6.6 billion in Q1 versus ¥4.4 billion in the year-ago period.
  • Sales in the Asia/Oceania region posted the highest two-year growth trend, increasing 50.9 percent in Q1 on top of 19 percent growth in Q1 last year to reach ¥7.6 billion for the period, compared to ¥5.0 billion in the fiscal Q1 quarter last year.
  • Consolidated gross margin was down 230 basis points to 40.0 percent of sales in the quarter. SG&A Expenses increase 11.5 percent to ¥17.6 billion, or 30.7 percent of sales, down 340 basis points from the year-ago quarter.

Operating profit jumped 40.8 percent to ¥5.3 billion from ¥3.8 billion a year ago, marking another record operating profit for the first quarter.

Ordinary profit reached ¥6.3 billion against ¥4.5 billion last year, representing a gain of 39.8 percent year-over-year. The FX gain was said to be greater than the prior-year Q1 period.

Net income grew 33.2 percent to ¥4.7 billion in fiscal Q1 from ¥3.5 billion in the prior-year Q1 period. Net income was said to be a record for the first quarter period.

Cash & Deposits were ¥20.6 billion at quarter-end, down 13.7 percent from the year-ago quarter-end.

Inventories were reported down at quarter-end to ¥54.9 billion, from ¥55.4 billion at the end of the prior-year comp quarter.

Photo courtesy Mizuno