Asics hit another milestone in the second quarter of 2023, reporting its highest-ever quarterly sales as business increased year-on-year in all regions and categories in the period.
According to the Japan-based athletic brand, net sales in the second quarter increased 28.9 percent to 290 billion yen ($2.03 billion based on current exchange rates) compared to 225 billion yen ($1.57 billion) the same time last year.
By category, net sales at Asics’ performance running division increased 19.9 percent over the same period last year to 147.8 billion yen ($1.03 billion). Asics said this gain was mainly due to the success in enhancing promotion of the Gel-Nimbus 25 sneaker in Japan, North America, Europe and Oceania regions.
Net sales for the company’s core performance sports category saw a 71.9 percent year-on-year increase in Q2, reflecting double-digit growth in all regions, rising to 40.4 billion yen ($280 million), driven mainly by tennis shoes. And at Onitsuka Tiger, net sales increased by 44.1 percent to 28.2 billion yen ($200 million), reflecting Japan’s steady recovery of sales due to the return of visiting tourists.
Other categories like SportStyle saw net sales rise 51.5 percent in Q2 to 28.1 billion yen ($200 million), while the brand’s apparel and equipment division reported a 5.3 percent net sales increase to 18.1 billion yen ($130 million) in the period.
By region, Asics Japan saw net sales increase 22.2 percent to 69.1 billion yen ($480 million) in Q2, driven by “rapid growth” of its core performance Sports category due to the normalization of the supply chain. Greater China recorded a 39.6 percent net sales increase to 40.4 billion yen ($280 million), and the Southeast and South Asia regions jumped by 66.9 percent to 13.4 billion yen ($94 million).
As for North America, net sales grew 17.4 percent to 55.9 billion yen ($390 million), due to strong sales of the performance running category and core performance sports category. And in Europe, the company reported a 24.4 percent increase in net sales to 78.4 billion yen ($550 million).
In a statement the company noted that these big gains are due to the “continued progress” with in-person sporting events and the “normalization” of social and economic activities, which it said only “truly reopened” globally since the beginning of the year.
Looking ahead, Asics is raising its yearly guidance based on its strong performance for the first two quarters of 2023. “Net sales are likely to reach a record high,” the company wrote in a separate filing on Tuesday. “The company expects that net sales will continue to perform well, with favorable trends in categories such as core performance sports, SportStyle and Onitsuka Tiger, as well as in regions such as Japan, Greater China and Southeast and South Asia. This revision also includes the review of exchange rate.”
As such, the company now expects net sales for fiscal 2023 of 550 billion yen ($3.84 billion). This is up 7.8 percent from its previous guidance of 510 billion yen ($3.79 billion) for the year.