Acushnet Co. profit up nearly fourfold

[GolfSpy_X]

http://www.pbn.com/detail/49521.html

 

FAIRHAVEN – The Acushnet Co., maker of golf apparel and equipment, saw its operating profit surge nearly fourfold in the first three months of the year, parent company Fortune Brands Inc. said Thursday.

 

Acushnet Co. posted an operating profit of $44.4 million in the three months ended March 31, compared with $9 million a year earlier. Net sales for the quarter rose 1.9 percent to $353.6 million, but comparable net sales fell 3 percent after currency and other adjustments.

 

Acushnet helped its Deerfield, Ill.-based parent raise its first-quarter earnings by nearly 900 percent compared with 2009 as the company benefited from lower costs and gains in market share.

 

Fortune Brands posted an overall profit of $72.2 million, or 47 cents per diluted share, for the quarter, up from $7.4 million, or 5 cents per diluted a share, a year earlier. Revenue rose 12.9 percent to $1.63 billion.

 

Excluding one-time charges, Fortune Brands' net income was 49 cents a share, beating the estimate of 38 cents among analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters.

 

“Each of our three brand groups outperformed our expectations,” Fortune Brands Chairman and CEO Bruce Carbonari said in a statement. Successful new products helped drive higher sales for Titleist golf clubs and FootJoy shoes, he said.

 

The company said it expects full-year earnings to come in between $2.50 and $2.80 a share.

 

Earlier this week, Moody's Investors Service raised its outlook on Fortune Brands to “stable” from “negative” and affirmed its Baa3 and Prime-3 ratings.

 

On April 16, after the close of the first quarter, Acushnet reported that it had completed the sale of its Cobra golf brand to Puma AG for an undisclosed amount.

[JohnBarry]

Good to hear, like to see golf companies making a proffit, means people are spending money on golf equipment!