14 May Asics America Q1 Sales Up 5 Percent in Currency-Neutral Terms
Asics America Group (AAG), which includes the United States, Canada, Mexico and Brazil, reported sales rose 1.8 percent in the first quarter and expanded 5.0 percent on a currency-neutral basis. Asics America Corp. (U.S. only) showed a steady positive 6.9 percent increase in net sales on a currency-neutral basis.
With significant growth in running apparel and specialty categories such as Tennis and Asics Tiger lifestyle footwear, Asics America’s success was driven by products including the GEL-LYTE III and its award-winning GEL-Resolution® 6 tennis shoe.
“We’re pleased that Asics America Group continues on its positive growth path, featuring excellent numbers in key sports performance and lifestyle categories,” said Asics America Group President and CEO, Kevin Wulff. “We have seen significant traction in running apparel, performance tennis and Asics Tiger footwear. These numbers bode well for the rest of 2015 and are a solid starting point coming out of the winter months. We are excited about our new product launches still to come this year and, as always, remain focused on providing cutting-edge, superior performance products to our loyal customers.”
Asics America Corporation also saw “expansive growth” across the Apparel and Accessories categories, demonstrating increased demand in the market. Athletic Sports Apparel grew an impressive 49.7 percent overall, led by running apparel, which increased 70.7 percent. Accessories also were up 26.2 percent.
The two main business drivers in the footwear category were Running Footwear and the Asics Tiger lifestyle footwear brand. Asics Footwear won four awards in Q1, most notably the Asics GEL-Nimbus 17, which received Runner’s World’s top honor, being awarded Editor’s Choice in the Summer Shoe Guide.
Asics continued to produce innovative, unique products this past quarter with notable signature items and launches including the Natural 33 performance footwear collection featuring AmpliFoam Technology, and the 2015 Asics LA Marathon 33-DFA shoe, which debuted in conjunction with the 30th edition of the Asics LA Marathon. Asics served as the title sponsor of the race, which took place March 15.
Asics also enjoyed steady impressive growth in the Tennis category this quarter. Tennis Footwear sales for Asics America were up 73.0 percent and Tennis Apparel was up 70.9 percent. Tennis Magazine recently recognized Asics’ high quality tennis performance footwear the GEL-Resolution 6 with the Editor’s Choice Award.