Q2 2017 revenue climbs 9% to $1.1 billion at Under Armour

"Our second quarter performance validates the strength of our multiple growth levers to deliver solid results in today's dynamic global environment," said Under Armour chairman and CEO Kevin Plank. "More than doubling our business over the last three years has required significant investments and resources to build our brand. We are utilising 2017 to ensure that operations across our diverse portfolio of sport categories, distribution channels and geographies are optimised as we are building a stronger, faster and smarter company."

The company's gross margin declined 190 basis points to 45.8 percent as benefits from channel and product mix were offset by inventory management initiatives, changes in foreign currency rates, and higher air freight in connection with our enterprise resource planning (ERP) system implementation, which impacted the timing of shipments to certain key customers.

"As we stand up our category management structure within a consumer-led approach, we intend to meaningfully increase our go-to-market speed and amplify our digital capabilities," said Plank. "We've identified a number of areas to enhance our operational capabilities, drive process improvement and gain greater efficiencies. We remain steadfast in driving and building our brand while shifting our operational focus to become more return-on-investment and cost of capital centric - institutionalizing discipline to deliver more consistent, long-term shareholder value."

For the fiscal year 2017, the company's net revenue is expected to grow 9 to 11 per cent versus the previous expectation of 11 to 12 per cent growth, reflecting moderation in the company's North American business. Gross margin, on a reported basis, is expected to be down approximately 160 basis points compared to 46.4 per cent in 2016 as benefits from product costs and sales mix are offset by impacts from the restructuring plan, changes in foreign currency and increased efforts to manage inventory. (RR)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk – India