Columbia Sees 2% Sales Uptick Through September, Yet Profits Dip Below $100M

Columbia suffers in the third quarter. After the good performance recorded at the end of the first six months of the year, the U.S. fashion and sports equipment giant has closed the third quarter down, which has weighed down the accumulated financial results for the first nine months of the year. The company’s earnings through September are below one hundred million dollars.

Specifically, the sportswear company posted sales for the first nine months of the year (period ending September 30th) of $2.32 billion, up 2.4% from the previous year. Gross profit, meanwhile, rose another 3% to $1.16 billion, with a gross margin of 50.1%, up three-tenths of a percentage point from the previous year.

Despite having sold more during the period, Columbia Sportswear’s net income has suffered sharply: a year ago, the company earned $120.7 million through September, but now it has earned $84 million, down 30.3%.

Columbia has suffered particularly in its local market

The disparate performance of the giant, which closed the first six months of the year by increasing its sales, but also its profit, has been weighed down by the results of the third quarter. In the last three months, the company sold $943.4 million worth of goods, a flat performance of just 1% more than a year earlier. Gross margin has also remained flat, at 50%, while profits have fallen from $90 million to just $52 million.

Despite this, the company welcomed the results, especially because of the good performance of the business in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (Emea), a market that grew by double digits, 15%, boosting the international weight of the business. Columbia’s sales in the region reached 402.5 million dollars, still the third most important market for the company.

In Latin America and Asia Pacific, sales also rose by 9% to $407.9 million, while in Canada, where the giant has sales of $163.7 million, the figure remained flat, with a positive evolution of 1%. Columbia suffered, however, in its home market, and the main market for the business, with a 2% drop in sales in the United States, to $1,353 million.

Only the giant’s eponymous brand has increased sales in the first nine months of the year

By distribution channel and product category, performance has been uneven. While wholesale sales rose 6% to September to $1.35 billion, sales at the company’s own stores fell 2% to $975.9 million. With regard to sales of fashion, accessories and equipment, Columbia sold $1,857 million worth of these items, up 2%, along with sales of 469.6 million dollars’ worth of footwear, up 4%.

Only Columbia, the U.S. giant’s main brand, has significantly increased its sales in the January-September period. Specifically, the company achieved sales through its eponymous brand of $2.03 billion, 3% more than the previous year. Sales through Sorel remained flat at $141.9 million, while those of prAna and Mountain Hardwear fell by 3% and 9%, respectively.