Mixed first quarter for Johnson Outdoors

Racine, Wisconsin-based marine equipment and watercraft manufacturer Johnson Outdoors has announced lower sales and higher net income year-over-year for the first quarter of the company’s 2019 fiscal year.

Net sales for the quarter ended December 28, 2018 declined to US$104.4m, reflecting a 10% year-over-year drop compared against net sales of $116.6m in the prior year quarter. Operating profit was listed as $6.0m, down from the $7.0m reported for Q1 2018, while gross margin improved quarter-to-quarter, despite a $0.7m unfavourable impact from newly-enacted tariffs.

The company reported net income of $3.5m for the period, compared to $0.2m for the previous year’s first quarter.

By segment, the company’s fishing division generated an operating profit of $11.4m for the quarter, against losses in every other business segment.

“While pacing of new product releases affected first quarter year-over-year comparisons, we expect moderate sales growth for the full year,” said CFO David Johnson. “Further, while we continue working on various tariff mitigation efforts, at this time we are still projecting these to have a potential $6m-$9m impact on fiscal 2019 profits.

“The balance sheet remains strong, providing us the financial capacity and flexibility to strategically invest in growing our business while also paying a cash dividend to our shareholders.”