Japanese sportswear firm Asics has booked a third-quarter net loss as a result of the impact of store closures across the globe in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Asics recorded a loss of JPY3.4bn (US$32.3m) compared to a profit of JPY6.9bn for the same period a year earlier.
Loss before income tax was JPY3.3bn compared with JPY13.2bn, fuelled by a loss resulting from temporary store closures of JPY2.4m.
Stores had been closed in Japan, North America, and Europe under government direction to prevent the spread of the coronavirus infection.
Sales for the third quarter ending 30 September, fell 13.3% to JPY248.2bn compared with JPY286.2bn a year earlier.
Regionally, in Japan, sales fell 23.1% year-on-year to JPY71bn and 18.9% to JPY48.8bn in North America. In Europe sales fell 4.3% to JPY68.4bn but in greater China, sales grew 3.8% to JPY31m thanks to strong sales in performance running.
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By GlobalDataSales also grew in the Oceanian region and were up 11.5% year-on-year to JPY14.19bn thanks again to strong sales in performance running and sports style.
But sales were 30.9% lower in the Southeast and South Asian regions to JPY6.1bn, and 26.4% lower in other regions to JPY20.5bn.
“Due to the global spread of the novel coronavirus disease, Asics Group continued to face a challenging situation, such as cancellation or scale-down of various competitions, temporary closures of own retail stores and the slump in personal consumption,” the group said.
“However, economic activities have resumed and the situation has improved during the Q3 period, 2020 as net sales increased by 2% and operating income increased by 75% under certain restrictions.”
