Asics EMEA hails key market growth despite overall sales drop

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Nov 9, 2020

Athletic brand Asics said that despite the challenging conditions, its EMEA unit has reported growth in key markets and that the region’s e-commerce revenue in the year to date is up 134.4%.

That news came as the company reported global sales down 13.3% for its third quarter to ¥248.2 billion (€2bn/£1.82bn/$2.39bn) with operating income down 74.1% to ¥3.279 billion. 

The quarter was clearly a challenging one as the pandemic continued to dominate the news. But the firm highlighted some key advances in EMEA in the year to date.

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Despite the closure of its stores and other stockists for up to three months due to the pandemic, the region recorded a consolidated net revenue decline of only 3.1% in the first nine months.

And during the period, wholesale revenue rose 11.1% in Germany, 3.5% in France, 3% in the UK, 5.6% in Sweden, 7.4% in Denmark, 17.6% in Poland and 21.2% in Finland.

The company also said it's Europe’s number one running shoe brand and has extended the gap between its main competitors, based on NPD data.

It said that during 2020, it gained 3ppt in market share in footwear in the ‘Made For/Used For’ Running category in the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain, and increased sell-out by 4% year-on-year. And in the €90+ price band, it gained 6ppt in market share in footwear in the ‘Made For/Used For’ Running category in those five key markets.

EMEA CEO Carsten Unbehaun said: “I’m extremely encouraged by these results. Despite all the challenges of Covid-19, we have gained market share, grown in key markets and accelerated our digital transformation. And through closely managing our costs, we have actually been able to increase profitability YTD versus the same period last year, which is a great achievement.”