Asics ups sales and profit forecast for the current fiscal year

In a revised forecast for the current financial year, Asics Corporation said net sales for the full-year are expected to reach a record high with the update of the exchange rates. The percentage of change of net sales from the previous forecast is 6.9 percent excluding the impact of currency changes.

The company expects the net sales to reach 660 billion yen, up 11.9 percent, and net income per share to reach 79.80 yen. Asics also forecasts operating profit of 95 billion yen and robust growth in its net profit for the year ahead.

Gross margin for the first quarter improved by 4.3ppt to 54.5 percent. The company said in a release that gross margin is expected to continue to improve by around 3 percent to approximately 55 percent through the optimization of product lineup, selling price and sales channel.

Preliminary consolidated net sales for the second quarter are expected to reach 167.8 billion yen, 21.8 percent compared to the previous fiscal year.

By category, SportStyle had a sales growth of 79.5 percent, Onitsuka Tiger 60.4 percent and performance running 18.6 percent, respectively.

By region, Greater China had a steady sales growth of 37.7 percent and Southeast and South Asia 30.3 percent, respectively. In addition, Asics Japan had a sales growth of 24.3 percent, North America 16.2 percent, Europe 26.9 percent and Oceania 22.1 percent.

Preliminary net sales for the first half period are expected to reach 341.9 billion yen, up 17.9 percent. By category, SportStyle had a sales growth of 64.1 percent, Onitsuka Tiger 55.4 percent and performance running 14.4 percent, respectively.

By region, Greater China had a steady sales growth of 31.7 percent and Southeast and South Asia 31.3 percent, respectively. Asics Japan had a sales growth of 23.8 percent, North America 21 percent, Europe 16.7 percent and Oceania 9.4 percent.