Misto Holding Sees 4.5% Growth in H1 Despite Fila’s Business Decline

Fila’s parent company soars. The South Korean sports equipment group, owner of Fila, ended the first half of the year on a high note. The company posted sales growth of up to 4.5%, in line with the growth already recorded in the first quarter, while its profits soared 30%.

Specifically, Misto Holding closed the first six months of the current fiscal year (period to June 30th) with sales of 2.46 trillion won ($1.44 billion). The gross profit of Fila’s parent company’s business, meanwhile, stood at 1.32 trillion won ($952.7 million).

Group CFO Ho Yeon Lee welcomed the results, which reflect an improvement in the company’s performance. He also referred to the good positioning of the brands in the portfolio, as well as a restructuring plan for the international business, which have enabled this growth “despite the political uncertainty abroad”.

Fila, most important brand of the group, has recorded a 10% drop in sales

This good business performance was reflected in Misto Holding’s earnings. Specifically, at the end of the first half, the company earned 290,658 million won ($209 million), 30% more than in the same period a year ago. Ho Yeon Lee highlighted the contribution of all the brands to this growth, the result of the group’s strategy of boosting all the companies in its portfolio.

It was this same objective that led the group earlier this year to change its name from Fila Holding to Misto Holding as it sought to shed its exclusive link to its flagship. Precisely through Misto, the business division that includes Fila, the company posted sales of 432,043 million won ($311.3 million). The figure represents a 10% drop compared to the previous year.

It was Acushnet, its golf equipment business, that drove Misto Holding’s business growth. At the end of the first six months, the group posted sales of 2,033 million won ($1.64 billion) through this division, up 8.2% on the previous year.