Helly Hansen, the Norwegian outdoor and sailing brand, continues to enjoy the benefits of the strategic overhaul it launched four years ago, with a sales increase of 17 percent to just under 1.6 billion Norwegian kroner (€209.1m-$275.1m) last year. Its comparable Ebitda, excluding the survival unit divested early last year, jumped by about 50 percent to some NOK 145 million (€19.0m-$24.9m). Remarkably, this performance included a sales rise of about 25 percent in Norway, the brand's home market – even though Helly Hansen amicably parted ways with Gresvig, a buying group that made up more than 40 percent of its sales in the country. Helly Hansen's impressive run is continuing this year with a rise of 19 percent in orders for this spring, driven by North America, the Nordics and Asia. The company's target is to lift its sales by 20 percent for the full year, although the outlook for the second half has become more uncertain, in view of large inventories of outdoor apparel at retail in the Nordic markets after paltry sales in December.

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