Amer Sports Corporation
STOCK EXCHANGE RELEASE
September 1, 2011 at 9:00 am
Amer Sports is today hosting a Capital Markets Day in Helsinki, Finland. The
Company will present the progress in the Group's five strategic priorities
announced in September 2010. "We are proceeding according to our plan in
executing the strategy, and the strategy is starting to work", says Heikki
Takala, President and CEO of Amer Sports.
"Our results are improving, evidenced by the 8% top line growth in 2010 and 9%
in H1 2011, coupled with a solid profit improvement. Almost all of our
businesses and geographic regions are progressing towards their specific targets
behind clear improvement programs", Takala continues.
One of the key pillars in Amer Sports strategy is to grow faster in footwear and
apparel. The softgoods growth was accelerated in 2010 and in H1/2011, softgoods
grew by 28%.
"We're becoming a more consumer-centric company with improved Brand Management
capabilities. We have established Regional consumer operations in Asia and the
Americas to improve our brands' local consumer relevance and appeal."
"Increased distribution and in-store excellence are yielding results, evidenced
by the top line growth. We are improving our operational excellence, with better
production flexibility in Winter Sports Equipment to cope with demand increases
in good winters and to be profitable even in bad winters. We are also
continuously improving our Customer Service across the company."
"We now stay on the path set last year. We continue executing the programs
guided by our financial targets, with strong focus on internal improvement and
organic growth. In current uncertain times, we naturally do appropriate
contingency planning to meet the challenges in case of an economic slowdown",
says Takala.
In September 2010, Amer Sports announced new strategic priorities and long-term
Group financial targets. The strategy defines internal financial as well as
synergy and scale targets for each unit in the Group portfolio. Group strategy
emphasizes faster growth in softgoods, i.e. apparel and footwear, excellence in
consumer-centric product creation and brand marketing (winning with consumers),
and the strengthening of commercial fundamentals through the development of
sales and distribution (winning in go-to-market). Operational excellence
continues to be a key cornerstone. The new financial targets put the focus on
profitable growth and strong cash flow.
Amer Sports' long-term financial targets are:
* Growth: Delivering organic, currency-neutral annual growth of 5%.
* Profitability: EBIT of at least 10% of net sales.
* Cash flow: Annual free cash flow equal to net profit.
* Balance sheet structure: Year-end Net Debt / EBITDA ratio of 3 or less.
The Capital Markets Day materials will be available on the company's website,
www.amersports.com, in the Investor Relations section at 1 pm Finnish time.
For further information, please contact:
Päivi Antola, Director, Corporate Communications and Investor Relations,
tel. +358 9 7257 8233
DISTRIBUTION:
NASDAQ OMX Helsinki
Major media
www.amersports.com
AMER SPORTS
Amer Sports (www.amersports.com) is a sporting goods company with
internationally recognized brands including Salomon, Wilson, Atomic, Arc'teryx,
Precor, Suunto and Mavic. The company's technically-advanced sports equipment,
footwear and apparel improve performance and increase the enjoyment of sports
and outdoor activities. The Group's business is balanced by its broad portfolio
of sports and products and a presence in all major markets. Amer Sports shares
are listed on the NASDAQ OMX Helsinki stock exchange.
[HUG#1543326]
