In a somewhat surprising move, management for the previously-maligned Rossignol brand said they expect to be profitable in the fiscal year ending in March thanks to cost cutting and good snow, CEO Bruno Cercley told several sources during the grand opening of the company’s new headquarters.


The Rossignol Group, which was sold by surf and skate giant Quiksilver, Inc. to Chartreuse & Mont Blanc. in November of 2008 for a value equal to €40 million ($50.8 million), has cut 30% of its staff, slashed pay to its 200 sponsored racers by half and cut senior manager’s salaries by 20% — all this year. The company has also halved its SKUs.


In the fiscal year ended March 31, 2009, Rossignol lost $63 million on revenue of $354 million. Cercley said he expects the company to be EBITDA positive through March despite a 15% drop in revenue to €207 million ($300.9 mm). Cercley said the growing popularity of ski rentals was exacerbating a longer term decline in participation. “…we don’t have the enormous black cloud over our heads saying ‘will we survive until tomorrow?” Cercley told the Associated Press, “That was the situation of Rossignol a year ago…when the company was almost in bankruptcy.”