Amer Sports Reports Third Quarter 2024 Financial Results, Company Raises Full Year Guidance

Business Wire 19-Nov-2024 6:45 AM

• Strong quarter with sales, adjusted margins and EPS above expectations
• Revenue increased 17% to $1,354 million
• Arc'teryx continues standout growth and profitability
• Ball & Racquet segment accelerated to double-digit growth
• Continued strong results in Greater China and Asia Pacific
• Accelerating growth in both North America and EMEA
• Salomon announces next CEO

Amer Sports Inc. (NYSE:AS) ("Amer Sports" or the "Company") announced its financial results for the third quarter of 2024.

CEO James Zheng commented, "Third quarter was very strong for Amer Sports Group across all brands and geographies. Led by Arc'teryx, our unique portfolio of premium technical brands continues to create white space and take market share in sports and outdoor markets around the world. We are executing against our largest growth opportunities in Arc'teryx and Salomon footwear, while our market-leading Ball & Racquet franchise experienced a growth acceleration."

THIRD QUARTER 2024 RESULTS

For the third quarter of 2024, compared to the third quarter of 2023:

• Revenue increased to $1,354 million, which represents 17% growth on both a reported and constant currency basis^1. Revenues by segment:
  • Technical Apparel increased 34% to $520 million, or increased 33% on a constant currency basis. This reflects an omni-comp² growth of 20%.
  • Outdoor Performance increased 8% to $534 million, or increased 7% on a constant currency basis.
  • Ball & Racquet Sports increased to $300 million, which represents 11% growth on both a reported and constant currency basis.
• Gross margin increased 420 basis points to 55.2%; Adjusted gross margin increased 410 basis points to 55.5%.
• Selling, general and administrative expenses increased 20% to $586 million; Adjusted selling, general and administrative expenses increased 23% to $572 million.
• Operating profit increased 69% to $177 million; Adjusted operating profit increased 46% to $195 million, including a $14 million government subsidy received in the third quarter that had been expected to occur in the fourth quarter.
• Operating margin increased 400 basis points to 13.1%. Adjusted operating margin increased 280 basis points to 14.4%. Adjusted operating margin by segment:
  • Technical Apparel increased 370 basis points to 20.0%.
  • Outdoor Performance decreased 40 basis points to 17.5%.
  • Ball & Racquet Sports increased 600 basis points to 6.9%.
• Net income increased 257% to $56 million, or $0.11 diluted earnings per share; Adjusted net income increased 651% to $71 million, or $0.14 diluted earnings per share.

Balance sheet. Year-over-year inventories increased 12%. Net debt³ was $1,987 million, and cash and equivalents totaled $312 million at quarter end.

MANAGEMENT TRANSITIONS

As we evolve as a company, we are announcing two leadership changes to the Amer Sports executive structure. Effective January 1, 2025, we are pleased to announce that Guillaume Meyzenq, currently Chief Product Officer for Salomon, has been appointed President and CEO for Salomon. Additionally, Michael Hauge Sørensen, Chief Operating Officer for Amer Sports, has decided to step down from his current position and will return to his former role as advisor to the Board of Directors of Amer Sports.

OUTLOOK

CFO Andrew Page said, "Another quarter of high-teens organic growth accompanied by healthy gross- and operating-margin expansion reflects the combination of great brands and strong execution by our teams around the world. Very strong growth from our highest-margin Arc'teryx franchise combined with improving trends in both Ball & Racquet and Winter Sports Equipment give us the confidence to raise our full-year sales and earnings guidance."

"As we begin to look beyond this year, we are also confident in our initial 2025 outlook and expect to deliver results consistent with our long-term financial algorithm of low-double-digit to mid-teens annual revenue growth and 30-70+ bps of annual adjusted operating margin expansion driven by gross margin expansion."

FULL-YEAR 2024

Amer Sports is updating guidance for the year ending December 31, 2024 (all guidance figures reference adjusted amounts):

• Reported revenue growth: 16 – 17%
• Gross margin: 55.3 – 55.5%
• Operating margin: towards high-end of 10.5 – 11.0%
• D&A: approximately $270 million, including approximately $120 million of ROU depreciation
• Net finance cost: $200 – $210 million, including approximately $15 million of finance costs in the first quarter 2024 that won't be recurring
• Effective tax rate: approximately 37%
• Fully diluted share count: approximately 500 million
• Fully diluted EPS: $0.43 – 0.45
• Technical Apparel:
  • Revenue growth of approximately 34%
  • Segment operating margin slightly above 20%
• Outdoor Performance:
  • Revenue growth of approximately 8%
  • Segment operating margin high-single digit %
• Ball & Racquet:
  • Revenue growth of approximately 4%
  • Segment operating margin low-to-mid single digit %

Amer Sports will provide full year 2025 guidance in connection with its earnings call for the year ended December 31, 2024.

Other than with respect to revenue, Amer Sports only provides guidance on a non-IFRS basis. The Company does not provide a reconciliation of forward-looking non-IFRS measures to the most directly comparable IFRS Accounting Standards measures due to the difficulty in forecasting and quantifying certain amounts that are necessary for such reconciliations without unreasonable efforts. The Company is unable to address the probable significance of the unavailable reconciling items, which could have a potentially significant impact on its future IFRS financial results. The above outlook reflects the Company's current and preliminary estimates of market and operating conditions and customer demand, which are all subject to change. Actual results may differ materially from these forward-looking statements, including as a result of, among other things, the factors described under "Forward-Looking Statements" below and in our filings with the SEC.

CONFERENCE CALL INFORMATION

The Company's conference call to review the results for the third quarter 2024 will be webcast live today, Tuesday, November 19, 2024 at 8:00 a.m. Eastern Time and can be accessed at https://investors.amersports.com.

ABOUT AMER SPORTS

Amer Sports is a global portfolio of iconic sports and outdoor brands, including Arc'teryx, Salomon, Wilson, Peak Performance, Atomic, and Armada. Our brands are known for their detailed craftsmanship, unwavering authenticity, and premium market positioning. As creators of exceptional apparel, footwear, and equipment, we pride ourselves on cutting-edge innovation, performance, and designs that allow elite athletes and everyday consumers to perform their best.

With over 11,400 employees globally, Amer Sports' purpose is to elevate the world through sport. Our vision is to be the global leader in premium sports and outdoor brands. With corporate offices in Helsinki, Munich, Kraków, New York, and Shanghai, we have operations in 40+ countries and our products are sold in 100+ countries. Amer Sports generated $4.4 billion of revenue in 2023. Amer Sports, Inc. shares are listed on the New York Stock Exchange. For more information, visit www.amersports.com.

NON-IFRS MEASURES

Adjusted gross profit margin, adjusted SG&A expenses, adjusted operating profit margin, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted net income/(loss) attributable to equity holders, and adjusted diluted income/(loss) per share are financial measures that are not defined under IFRS Accounting Standards. Adjusted gross profit margin is calculated as adjusted gross profit divided by revenue. Adjusted gross profit is calculated as gross profit excluding amortization related to certain purchase price adjustments (PPA) in connection with the acquisition and delisting of Amer Sports in 2019 and restructuring expenses. Adjusted SG&A also excludes PPA amortization, as well as adjustments to exclude restructuring expenses, expenses related to transaction activities, expenses related to certain legal proceedings, and certain share-based payments. Adjusted operating profit margin is calculated as adjusted operating profit divided by revenue. Adjusted operating profit is calculated as income/(loss) before tax with adjustments to exclude PPA amortization, restructuring expenses, impairment losses on goodwill and intangible assets, expenses related to transaction activities, expenses related to certain legal proceedings, certain share-based payments, finance costs, loss on debt extinguishment, and finance income. EBITDA is calculated as net income/(loss) attributable to equity holders of the Company, plus net income attributable to non-controlling interests, income tax expense, finance cost, loss on debt extinguishment, depreciation and amortization and minus finance income, from both continuing and discontinued operations. Adjusted EBITDA is calculated as EBITDA with adjustments to exclude results from discontinued operations, restructuring expenses, impairment losses on goodwill and intangible assets, expenses related to transaction activities, expenses related to certain legal proceedings and certain share-based payments. Adjusted net income/(loss) attributable to equity holders is calculated as net income/(loss) attributable to equity holders with adjustments to exclude PPA amortization, loss from discontinued operations, restructuring expenses, impairment losses on goodwill and intangible assets, expenses related to transaction activities, expenses related to certain legal proceedings, certain share-based payments, loss on debt extinguishment and related income tax expense. "Omni-comp" is defined as year-over-year revenue growth from owned retail stores and e-commerce sites that have been open at least 13 months.

The Company believes that these non IFRS measures, when taken together with its financial results presented in accordance with IFRS Accounting Standards, provide meaningful supplemental information regarding its operating performance and facilitate internal comparisons of its historical operating performance on a more consistent basis by excluding certain items that may not be indicative of our business, results of operations or outlook. In particular, adjusted EBITDA and adjusted net income/(loss) are helpful to investors as they are measures used by management in assessing the health of the business and evaluating operating performance, as well as for internal planning and forecasting purposes. Non-IFRS financial measures however are subject to inherent limitations, may not be comparable to similarly titled measures used by other companies and should not be considered in isolation or as an alternative to IFRS measures. The supplemental tables below provide reconciliations of each non-IFRS financial measure presented to its most directly comparable IFRS Accounting Standards financial measure.

FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS

This press release includes estimates, projections, statements relating to the business plans, objectives, and expected operating results of the Company that are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. In many cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terms such as "may," "will," "should," "expects," "plans," "anticipates," "target," "outlook," "believes," "intends," "estimates," "predicts," "potential" or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. These forward looking statements include, without limitation, guidance and outlook statements, our long-term targets and algorithm, statements regarding our ability to meet environmental, social and governance goals, expectations regarding industry trends and the size and growth rates of addressable markets, and statements regarding our business plan and our growth strategies. These statements are based on management's current expectations but they involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Actual results and the timing of events could differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements as a result of factors relating to, without limitation: the strength of our brands; changes in market trends and consumer preferences; intense competition that our products, services and experiences face; harm to our reputation that could adversely impact our ability to attract and retain consumers and wholesale partners, employees, brand ambassadors, partners, and other stakeholders; reliance on technical innovation and high-quality products; general economic and business conditions worldwide, including due to inflationary pressures; the strength of our relationships with and the financial condition of our third-party suppliers, manufacturers, wholesale partners and consumers; ability to expand our DTC channel, including our expansion and success of our owned retail stores and e-commerce platform; our plans to innovate, expand our product offerings and successfully implement our growth strategies that may not be successful, and implementation of these plans that may divert our operational, managerial and administrative resources; our international operations, including any related to political uncertainty and geopolitical tensions; our and our wholesale partners' ability to accurately forecast demand for our products and our ability to manage manufacturing decisions; our third party suppliers, manufacturers and other partners, including their financial stability and our ability to find suitable partners to implement our growth strategy; the cost of raw materials and our reliance on third-party manufacturers; our distribution system and ability to deliver our brands' products to our wholesale partners and consumers; climate change and sustainability or ESG-related matters, or legal, regulatory or market responses thereto; changes to trade policies, tariffs, import/export regulations, anti-competition regulations and other regulations in the United States, EU, PRC and other jurisdictions, or our failure to comply with such regulations; ability to obtain, maintain, protect and enforce our intellectual property rights in our brands, designs, technologies and proprietary information and processes; ability to defend against claims of intellectual property infringement, misappropriation, dilution or other violations made by third parties against us; security breaches or other disruptions to our IT systems; changes in government regulation and tax matters; our ability to remediate our material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting; our relationship with our significant shareholders; other factors that may affect our financial condition, liquidity and results of operations; and other risks and uncertainties set out in filings made from time to time with the SEC and available at www.sec.gov, including, without limitation, our reports on Form 20-F and Form 6-K. You are urged to consider these factors carefully in evaluating the forward-looking statements contained herein and are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements, which are qualified in their entirety by these cautionary statements. The forward-looking statements made herein speak only as of the date of this press release and the Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update such forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances, except as may be required by law.

Source: Amer Sports, Inc.

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