Interviews
News Flash
SUGOi apparel help push DII Recreational/Leisure segment to new heights
28 May '08
4 min read
Seeking a dominant position in bicycles:
Shareholders were told that Dorel plans to aggressively develop its bicycle business. The February Cannondale purchase is the first step in the Company's goal to become the world's number one Independent Bicycle Dealer (IBD) player.
Backed by Dorel's extensive resources, the Cannondale Sports Group, a newly formed Recreational/Leisure division, is already building on Cannondale's strengths to grow significantly within the IBD channel.
Initial results are highly encouraging. The first quarter this year included two months of Cannondale/SUGOi revenue and helped push year-over-year Recreational/Leisure revenue up 55%, while earnings from operations soared 106%. Pacific Cycle was a strong contributor to the quarter as well with robust sales at its mass merchant customers.
"The purchase of Cannondale and SUGOi immediately establishes huge IBD positioning for Dorel and will help us move toward a dominant worldwide position in the bicycle industry. Our intention is to seek further acquisitions in similar high quality, performance bicycle companies and create new innovative products.
We sincerely believe that with our strong and respected premium brands we can build our bicycle business into a global force much as we have established our juvenile segment to satisfy consumers worldwide in both the mass merchant and independent boutique channels."
Re-establishing RTA furniture:
There was also good news concerning Ameriwood, Dorel's RTA furniture business. The division has been the focus of intensive restructuring after it was determined that its factory network exceeded anticipated market needs.
As a result, there are now two efficient plants in North America instead of four three years ago. RTA is running well and is very busy. Last month Ameriwood posted its fourth successive profitable quarter.
"We had not commented on our RTA furniture business for some time, as we were not comfortable that things were solidly headed in the right direction.
That has now changed. We have turned the corner at Ameriwood and we feel we will continue to make inroads in the RTA furniture industry, given our reduced manufacturing footprint, efficiencies and considerable new product pipeline, including items with mid to high price points," commented Dorel's CFO, Jeffrey Schwartz.
Outlook:
"Our first quarter performance is proof that Dorel has the right combination of products and price points for consumers at the right time. With the difficult economy in North America, consumers are shopping more at mass merchants where Dorel has traditionally been strong.
In Europe, conditions are better. Consumers continue to seek higher-end products at independents and boutiques, and Dorel's European operations enjoy a solid position in this market. Dorel has the flexibility and product diversity to sdeal with varying markets," concluded Mr. Schwartz.
Shareholders were told that Dorel plans to aggressively develop its bicycle business. The February Cannondale purchase is the first step in the Company's goal to become the world's number one Independent Bicycle Dealer (IBD) player.
Backed by Dorel's extensive resources, the Cannondale Sports Group, a newly formed Recreational/Leisure division, is already building on Cannondale's strengths to grow significantly within the IBD channel.
Initial results are highly encouraging. The first quarter this year included two months of Cannondale/SUGOi revenue and helped push year-over-year Recreational/Leisure revenue up 55%, while earnings from operations soared 106%. Pacific Cycle was a strong contributor to the quarter as well with robust sales at its mass merchant customers.
"The purchase of Cannondale and SUGOi immediately establishes huge IBD positioning for Dorel and will help us move toward a dominant worldwide position in the bicycle industry. Our intention is to seek further acquisitions in similar high quality, performance bicycle companies and create new innovative products.
We sincerely believe that with our strong and respected premium brands we can build our bicycle business into a global force much as we have established our juvenile segment to satisfy consumers worldwide in both the mass merchant and independent boutique channels."
Re-establishing RTA furniture:
There was also good news concerning Ameriwood, Dorel's RTA furniture business. The division has been the focus of intensive restructuring after it was determined that its factory network exceeded anticipated market needs.
As a result, there are now two efficient plants in North America instead of four three years ago. RTA is running well and is very busy. Last month Ameriwood posted its fourth successive profitable quarter.
"We had not commented on our RTA furniture business for some time, as we were not comfortable that things were solidly headed in the right direction.
That has now changed. We have turned the corner at Ameriwood and we feel we will continue to make inroads in the RTA furniture industry, given our reduced manufacturing footprint, efficiencies and considerable new product pipeline, including items with mid to high price points," commented Dorel's CFO, Jeffrey Schwartz.
Outlook:
"Our first quarter performance is proof that Dorel has the right combination of products and price points for consumers at the right time. With the difficult economy in North America, consumers are shopping more at mass merchants where Dorel has traditionally been strong.
In Europe, conditions are better. Consumers continue to seek higher-end products at independents and boutiques, and Dorel's European operations enjoy a solid position in this market. Dorel has the flexibility and product diversity to sdeal with varying markets," concluded Mr. Schwartz.
Dorel Industries Inc
Popular News
Leave your Comments
Esteemed Clients
-Ltd..jpg?tr=w-120,h-60,c-at_max,cm-pad_resize,bg-ffffff "Thermore (Far East) Ltd.")
.jpg?tr=w-120,h-60,c-at_max,cm-pad_resize,bg-ffffff "Telangana State Industrial Infrastructure Corporation Limited (TSllC Ltd)")
.jpg?tr=w-120,h-60,c-at_max,cm-pad_resize,bg-ffffff "Taiwan Textile Federation (TTF)")
