Ice hockey apparel biz drives revenue at Bauer in Q1 FY'13

Revenues grew by 4% (8% excluding the impact of foreign exchange) to $148.3 million in the first quarter of Fiscal 2013 including strong performance in several ice hockey equipment categories and apparel driven by recent new product launches. Composite sticks grew by 9%, driven partially by the launch of the NEXUS family of products, and the new RE-AKT helmet helped drive 16% growth in helmets.

Partially offsetting these gains was a 9% decline in goalie revenues due to the launch of the new product line earlier in the Back-to-Hockey 2012 season than in Back-to-Hockey 2011. Apparel revenues grew by 11% and BAUER's lacrosse revenues increased significantly driven by the positive contribution of two months of sales from the recently acquired Cascade Helmets Holdings, Inc. which added 2% to total revenue growth in the quarter.

Overall revenues from the North American market grew by 2% in the three month period ended August 31, 2012 compared to the same period last year, while sales outside North America grew by 10% in the same period.

Adjusted Gross Profit in the three month period ended August 31, 2012 increased by $0.8 million, or 1%, to $61.0 million. Adjusted Gross Profit as a percentage of revenues was 41.1% for the three month period ended August 31, 2012 versus 42.3% in the three month period ended August 31, 2011. The decline in Adjusted Gross Profit as a percentage of revenues was driven primarily by higher product costs and unfavourable foreign exchange, partially offset by favourable other cost of goods sold.

Adjusted Net Income in the three month period ended August 31, 2012 increased by $2.0 million, or 10%, to $22.9 million. The increase in Adjusted Net Income is driven by increased Adjusted Gross Profit, continued benefits of operating leverage in selling, general and administrative expenses, and a favourable impact from the Company's hedging activities.

Adjusted EPS decreased 2%, or $0.01, to $0.65, compared to the same period last year due to the higher number of common shares outstanding as a result of the share offerings in June to fund the Cascade Acquisition. Excluding the impact of the Cascade acquisition and related share offerings, Adjusted EPS would have been approximately $0.70.

For the full fiscal year the Company currently expects the Cascade acquisition to be accretive to Adjusted EPS, however due to the seasonality of Cascade's business, the income from Cascade in the first fiscal quarter did not offset the dilutive impact of the higher number of common shares outstanding.

In addition to BAUER's strong first quarter results, the Company also announced that booking orders for its 2012 "Holiday" season (October 2012 - March 2013) increased 12% over the 2011 "Holiday" season. This growth of $8.0 million increased "Holiday" booking orders to $75.1 million, reflecting our retail customers' continuing enthusiasm for BAUER's innovative products.