The Salomon brand was a bit of an orphan child in the third quarter, as the business transitioned from adidas-Salomon to Amer Sports at quarter-end. Amer Sports did not close the deal until mid-October, and the newly named adidas Group moved quickly to move on from its ill-fated venture into the snow sports and outdoor business. adidas reported the Salomon numbers under the heading of discontinued operations for the third quarter, even moving 222 million in Salomon inventories into an “assets classified as held for sale” line item.
Salomon sales declined 4.1% to 187 million ($228 mm) for the third quarter from 195 million ($238 mm) in the year-ago period. Gross margin improved 120 basis points for the period to 44.2% of sales, compared to 43.0% of sales in Q3 last year. Operating profit was up 3.1% to 33.0 million ($40 mm), compared to 32 million ($39 mm) in the prior-year period.
