Snow Peak Co. Ltd. reported its operating income more than doubled in the first half of the year compared with a year earlier, thanks to a surging yen and robust sales of its high-end camping gear in its native Japan.

The maker of tents, sleeping bags, stoves, tableware, apparel and furniture reported net sales grew 27.7 percent to ¥4.85 billion ($44 million) in the six months ended June 30 compared with the first half of 2015.

Snow Peak said that while interest in camping remained high, consumer spending remained sluggish in Japan, Europe and China. The company, which split its stock 4 to 1 on July 1, said that to grow sales and offset the rising value of the yen in this environment, it:

  • increased its ratio of new product sales to facilitate price increases;
  • hosted 10 urban camping events and opened 22 shop-in-shops stores to promote outdoor living in Japan’s urban neighborhoods (new locations included consumer electronics, home building and boutique stores);
  • adopted an ERP system from SAP with predictive analytics and began planning construction of separate logistics and operations centers that will enable the company to track manufacturing, sourcing, wholesale shipments, consumer orders and fulfillment all the way to consumer’s front door;
  • enhanced customer service, event marketing and customer loyalty programs overseas to counter the effect of a strong yen in places like the United States, where Snow Peak sells its products through dozens of outdoor specialty retailers as well as owned stores in Portland, OR and New York City.

Snow Peak reported the recovery of the yen helped it grow gross margin 3.1 basis points to 48.7 percent. The yen appreciated 14 percent against the dollar and 10 percent against the euro in the first half of 2016, after falling about 12 percent during the preceding two years.

Operating income more than doubled to ¥568.1 million ($5 million), while ordinary income – which excludes interest expense, impacts from changes in exchange rates and other non-operating expenses – grew 80.0 percent to ¥491.5 million. Net income jumped  86.2 percent to ¥265.4 million.

Lead photo courtesy Snow Peak