Fishing equipment company Rapala VMC,’s result weakened in the beginning of the year from the level of the comparison period.
Rapala’s turnover decreased by seven percent to 148.4 million euros from 159.6 million euros in the comparison period. Net sales calculated according to comparable exchange rates decreased even more than the comparison period, by 12 percent.
Inderes, which follows the company, expected turnover to have been 149 million euros.
Rapala’s turnover decreased in all its market areas. Relatively, the turnover decreased the most in the Nordic countries, where the amount of comparable turnover decreased by a fifth of the comparison period.
Rapala’s comparable operating result in January–June was EUR 15.5 million, compared to EUR 26.5 million in the first half of the previous year. Reported operating profit fell to EUR 13.6 million from EUR 26.3 million in the comparison period.
The profit figures fell short of Inderes’ expected 18.9 million euro adjustment and the reported operating result.
No change to the instructions
“The first six months of 2022 were challenging as the gradual recovery of the sport fishing market quickly turned into a steeper market normalization as consumers returned to their usual pre-pandemic activities. The most noticeable and fastest market change was in the United States, where weakened consumer demand combined with the effects of retailers’ destocking,” CEO of Rapala Nicolas Cederström Warchalowsk says in the press release published by the company.
“The colder and longer winter than usual shortened the open water fishing season by up to 4-8 weeks in the northern hemisphere during the first six months of 2022, depending on the country. In addition, the market environment was affected by strong macroeconomic disturbances, such as high inflation, record high fuel prices and the effects of the Ukraine crisis.”
Rapala made no changes to this year’s guidelines in connection with the results announcement. The company expects its comparable operating profit for the whole year to remain below the previous year’s level.
(Correction 15.7.: Contrary to what was claimed earlier in the article, Rapala currently has an analyst following. Inderes’ forecasts were added to the article at the same time.)