Samsonite Sales Flat In Q3, Income Drops

Staff On Dec 22 2003 - 8:00am

Portable storage bag and backpack maker and licensor Samsonite reported flat sales in its fiscal third quarter, hitting $202.4 million, compared with $202 million in the same three months a year earlier.

Operating income dropped to $17.2 million in the third quarter, ended Oct. 31, down from $21.8 million in the year-ago period. Net income was reduced by about two-thirds in the third quarter, dropping to $2.6 million, compared with $7.6 million in the same quarter in 2002.

Samsonite pinpointed still-recovering sales volume in the United States and weakness in its European markets for the downswing in operating results.

With the exception of retail sales in September, which were negatively impacted by U.S. East Coast storms, monthly U.S. sales continue to recover from the Iraq war and the effects of the SARS outbreak last spring, said Samsonite.

For the nine months, Samsonite sales also were relatively flat, coming in at $556.5 million, up from $549.5 million in the same period a year earlier. Operating income for the nine months climbed to $46.3 million, up from $44.6 million, while the company reported a $3.7 million loss for the same period, down from a $5.6 million loss year over year.