Asics on track for record full-year sales
Japanese activewear group Asics saw its net sales grow by 7.4% year on year for the second quarter ended June 30, achieving approximately $1.7 billion (¥225 billion) over the first half of the fiscal year, the company has revealed.
Global e-commerce sales increased by 18.4% on the year previous, it disclosed, with its performance running category similarly experiencing a double-digit boost of 13.5% over the comparative period. Europe, Greater China and Oceania were the Asics brand’s strongest territories in this segment, with Greater China seeing a roughly 35% rise in sales despite covid-related lockdowns in the region.
Meanwhile, the group’s Onitsuka Tiger brand declined beyond expectations (down 6.5% year on year). Lockdowns in Shanghai were a particular pain point, although sales across both South and Southeast Asia rose to reach around $22.6 million (¥3 billion). Domestic Japanese sales also increased, Asics said.
With most spring-summer 2023 orders already in hand, the group has raised its full-year sales expectations to $3.5 billion (¥460 billion) from $3.2 billion (¥420 billion). If achieved, sales at this level would mean a record high for Asics, the firm’s first in seven years.
During a mid-August press conference, company president, chief executive and chief operating officer, Yasuhito Hirota, told local media that the manufacturing environment has now “normalised”, with rate of production generally exceeding pre-pandemic levels.
