Johnson Outdoors’ earnings for its second fiscal quarter, ended on March 27, declined by 7 percent from the year-ago period to $20.4 million.
In response to the Covid-19 crisis, the group has cut travel and non-essential spending, deferred capital expenditures and scaled operations down to match demand.
Johnson’s total revenues were down by 8 percent to $163.1 million, as all the company’s segments were hit by temporary store closures due to coronavirus. However, the gross margin improved by 1.6 percentage points to 46.1 percent, thanks to stronger pricing and an improved mix.
The Diving segment contracted by 29 percent to $14.3 million, due to the impact on dive markets across Europe, Asia-Pacific and North America as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Revenues from the Fishing segment fell 3 percent to $134.0 million. The division was the least affected by lockdown restrictions, but it faced a difficult comparison base with the year-ago quarter, when it grew by 10 percent due to new product introductions.
The Camping division, which includes brands such as Jetboil and Eureka, saw sales decline by 7 percent to $8.8 million, as strong growth in Jetboil could not offset lower sales in other categories.
Hurt by the impact of Covid-19 on production and demand, sales in the Watercraft recreation segment tumbled by 38 percent to $6.1 million.
The management expects the next quarter to be significantly affected by the coronavirus. However, it said its healthy cash position will be beneficial as these challenges are worked through.
