The European winter sports business remains difficult. Gone are the times of rising sales in the snowboarding and carving segment, and there is no indication of a new trend to compensate for the current slack. Snowboard sales are nosediving, and these producers are feeling the pinch as much as manufacturers of skiing equipment. One of the threats comes from the increasing popularity of renting equipment. According to estimates, 20% to 25% of all skiers and up to 40% of Austrian skiers now prefer to rent. German retail orders for skis in this year´s season were down 25% on last winter. On a global scale, however, business seems to have improved. Atomic (A-5541 Altenmarkt; www.atomicsnow.com), for example, has predicted a 10% overall sales increase for this season.

Trend towards consolidation confirmedDue to rising price pressure and corresponding economic problems, European ski manufacturers are increasingly becoming takeover targets. US companies in particular are attempting to compensate for seasonal fluctuations by focusing on a wider range of different sports segments. They also realised long before their European competitors that relocating part of production to low-wage countries is a good remedy for traditionally weak margins. In Europe, this realisation is only just starting to sink in as the market begins to consolidate. The most recent examples are relocations to China and eastern Europe by Völkl (D-94315 Straubing; www.voelkl.de) – see PIE 25, 2004 – and Adidas-Salomon (D-91074 Herzogenaurach; www.adidas-salomon.com) – see PIE 02, 2005.

Following the recent acquisition of Völkl by K2 (Carlsbad, California / USA; www.k2sports.com), a change of ownership took place at Blizzard Sport (A-5730 Mittersill; www.blizzard-ski.com) in late January. The company´s ski production activities were sold to IQ-Sport, a subsidiary of the Austrian family-owned Stöckl group, which has interests in wood processing and also owns a stake in a Ukrainian ski manufacturer.

There also are indications that Quiksilver (Huntingdon Beach, California / USA; www.quiksilver.com), wants to take over Rossignol (F-38509 Voiron; www.rossignol.com), world´s largest manufacturer of skiing equipment. The family of founder and majority shareholder Laurent Boix-Vives (with 45% of Rossignol´s share capital and 63% of voting rights) has received a letter of intent to this extent from the company that also manufactures surfing and swim equipment as well as clothing.

Founder of Rossignol Laurent Boix-Vives may reconsider a sale to Quiksilver (Photo: Rossignol)

Rumour has it that 78-year old Boix-Vives is looking for a new owner because his two daughters have no interest in the business. “Quiksilver plans to expand its outdoor segment,” its president, Bernard Mariette, told a French newspaper. He added that “Rossignol is not the only company we are looking at.” Some analysts expect companies such as Nike or K2 also to bid for Rossignol if the family decides to sell.

In fiscal 2003/2004, the French company, which manufactures the brands “ Rossignol”, “Dynastar”, “Look” and “Lange”, reported a profit of EUR 7.2m on sales of EUR 478.6m. Winter sports account for about 60% of its sales – around 1.2m of the 5.3m pairs of skis manufactured worldwide bear the Rossignol label. The firm also produces ski boots and golfing equipment. Some 40% of sales are generated in the US. In absolute terms, Quiksilver, with sales of USD 1.27 bn in 2003/2004 (30 October), including USD 500m in Europe, and a net profit of USD 81.4m, is twice the size of Rossignol.

Suppliers business holds up better than expectedIn 2003, sales of Isosport Verbundbauteile (A-7000 Eisenstadt; www.isosport.com), manufacturer of surfaces, running bases and laminates, were better than expected in view of sinking demand for skis – see PIE 06, 2004. In 2003, the subsidiary of Constantia Industries (A-1010 Wien) – formerly Constantia-ISO – increased sales 2.6% to EUR 73.9m. This follows a 10% decline in 2002 to EUR 72m. The recovery is attributed to a rise in market share for semi-finished products used in skis and snowboards. These account for 60% of the supplier´s overall sales volume.

Isosport´s competitors are for the most part the four group companies of IMS Kunststoff (CH-3067 Worb; www.ims-plastics.com), all part of the “Industrial Applications / Composite Technology” division of Gurit-Heberlein (CH-9630 Wattwil; www.gurit.com). IMS regards itself as the other leading supplier of semi-finished products and components to the international winter and summer sports industries, but declined to disclose exact sales figures for its winter sport business to PIE.

The IMS group companies produce prepregs and snowboard reinforcements. Their extruded and skived film for running bases and surfaces (“P-Tex”) are claimed to be used “by practically every manufacturer of alpine skis, Nordic skis and snowboards.” In addition to UHMW-PE, the group also processes G-PET and PA. In 2003 alone, the four companies consumed 2,000 t of PE. The portfolio also includes ABS side walls and TPU binding inserts. In addition to the Swiss production sites in Worb and Ittigen, IMS operates facilities at Vreden / Germany, Perrignier / France and Innsbruck / Austria.

• e-Service:Annual report of Rossignol (H1 2004/2005) as PDF document (792 KB) Annual report of Quiksilver (fiscal year 2003/2004) as PDF document (47 KB) Annual report of Gurit-Heberlein (fiscal year 2003) as PDF document (1,321 KB) Annual report of Constantia-ISO (fiscal year 2003) as PDF document (497 KB)