A strong fourth quarter from its fishing and diving segments helped Racine-based Johnson Outdoors Inc. more than double its earnings and post a 13.1 percent increase in revenue from last year.
“Outstanding new product successes this year underscore the critical impotance of our consumer-centric transfortmation to long-term growth,” said Helen Johnson Leipold, Johnson Outdoors chairman and chief executive officer. “Richer consumer insights are the catalysts behind our winning innovation, and going forward will be the genesis of targeted, cutting-edge marketing.”
Johnson Outdoors reported net income of $586,000 during the fourth quarter or 6 cents per diluted share. The result was an improvement over the $2.1 million, or 21 cents per share, loss during the same period last year. At the same time, revenue was up by 22.4 percent for the quarter to $91.8 million.
The gains were strongest in the fishing segment, which increased revenue 38.9 percent to $51.7 million and operating profit from $144,000 to $4.4 million, and the diving segment, which saw revenue up 15 percent to $21.8 million and posted an operating profit of $1.4 million after a $602,000 loss last year.
For the full year, revenue was up 13.1 percent to $490.6 million. Net income was up 160 percent to $35.2 million and earnings improved from $1.34 to $3.51 per diluted share.
“Next year in addition to anticipated slower revenue growth, we expect operating profit margin to decrease slightly due to increased digital spending and the effective tax rate to return to a more normal level. Additionally, we expect meaningful increases in capital spending driven by our strategic initiatives,” said David Johnson, Johnson Outdoors vice president and chief financial officer.
