Columbia Sportswear Q2 net sales increase 17 percent

Columbia Sportswear Company said that its net sales for the quarter ended June 30, 2015 grew 17 percent or 21 percent on constant-dollar, to 380.2 million dollars, compared with net sales of 324.2 million dollars for the same period in 2014. Through the first six months, the company's net sales grew 110.9 million dollars, or 15 percent or 19 percent on constant-dollar, to 859.2 million dollars, compared to 748.3 million dollars in the first half of 2014, including approximately 57.7 million dollars of incremental net sales from the prAna brand.

First-half operating income, including accretion from the prAna brand, grew 90 percent, to 35.2 million dollars, compared with operating income of 18.5 million dollars in the first half of 2014. First half net income increased 25 percent, to 19.9 million dollars, or 0.28 dollars per diluted share. Second quarter net loss totaled 6.5 million dollars, or 0.09 dollar per share compared to net loss of 6.3 million dollars or 0.09 dollar per share last year.

Said Tim Boyle, Columbia's Chief Executive Officer, “Our exceptional first-half results and our improved full year outlook illustrate the increasing earnings power of our expanded brand portfolio, seasonally diverse product offerings, and enhanced operational platforms. We enter the fall season with robust momentum in North America behind our Columbia, Sorel and prAna brands. In addition, we are gaining traction with the Columbia brand in Europe, despite slow economic growth in that region. These factors give us confidence in our expectations to deliver mid-teen constant-dollar net sales growth, operating margin of approximately 10.3 percent, and better than expected earnings growth in 2015.”

U.S. net sales increased 45 percent, including 19 million dollars of incremental prAna net sales. Net sales in Canada increased 27 percent or 43 percent on constant-dollar, including 1 million dollars of incremental prAna net sales. Latin America/Asia Pacific (LAAP) region net sales increased 1 percent or 7 percent on constant-dollar, including 0.3 million dollars of incremental prAna net sales. Europe/Middle East/Africa (EMEA) region net sales decreased 18 percent or 11 percent on constant-dollar, including 0.3 million dollars of incremental prAna net sales.

Columbia brand net sales increased 12 percent or 16 percent constant-dollar to 325.1 million dollars. Sorel brand net sales increased 43 percent to 4.3 million dollars, Mountain Hardwear net sales decreased 3 percent to 21.2 million dollars and prAna net sales totaled 26.1 million dollars, including 20.6 million dollars of incremental sales. Apparel, accessories & equipment net sales increased 18 percent or 21 percent on constant-dollar to 310.2 million dollars, and footwear net sales increased 14 percent or 21 percent on constant-dollar) to 70 million dollars.

The board of directors authorized a regular quarterly dividend of 0.15 dollar per share, payable on September 3, 2015. The company expects low double-digit percentage 2015 net sales growth or mid-teen percentage constant-dollar growth compared to 2014 net sales of 2.1 billion dollars. Gross margins are expected to improve by approximately 50 basis points. Based on the above assumptions, the company expects high-teen percentage growth in operating income, generating operating margin of approximately 10.3 percent, compared with operating income of 198.8 million dollars and operating margin of 9.5 percent in 2014.