Asia was a key contributor to a record US$2.433 billion in global sales for lifestyle bag and travel luggage company Samsonite last year.
Samsonite Asia sales increased by 12.8 per cent on a constant currency basis to US$947.6 million in the year to December 31.
Globally, the Hong Kong-listed company increased net sales by 3.5 per cent, or by 9.8 per cent, excluding amounts attributable to the acquisitions made in 2014 and on a constant currency basis.
Samsonite continued to benefit from the worldwide growth in travel and tourism as international tourist arrivals grew by 4.4 per cent in 2015 to 1.18 billion travellers, according to the World Tourism Organization.
Samsonite Asia’s success is the result of a continued focus on country-specific products and marketing strategies, along with additional product offerings and points-of-sale expansion, said CEO Ramesh Tainwala.
Net sales growth in Asia continued to be driven by the success of the Samsonite and American Tourister brands, as well as the acquisition of the Gregory brand in July 2014. Business-to-business and eCommerce channels in China performed particularly well, as did the Samsonite Red sub-brand, whose net sales increased by 23.8 per cent on a constant currency basis.
Net sales of American Tourister increased by 9 per cent year-on-year in Asia, while sales of Gregory amounted to US$18.5 million for 2015 as the group developed products designed specifically for the tastes and preferences of consumers within the region.
Net sales of High Sierra posted a year-on-year constant currency increase of 28.4 per cent. Hartmann, introduced by the group in Asia during 2014, contributed US$5.4 million of the 2015 net sales growth.
“We also introduced the Kamiliant brand, targeted at value-conscious consumers in the entry price segment in Asia, during the second half of 2014, to encouraging reception. From a channel perspective, direct-to-consumer eCommerce sales in the region surged year-on-year by 48.5 per cent… as the group focused on expanding its presence online,” said Tainwala.
By country, Australia and Japan posted strong constant currency year-on-year sales growth of 39.4 per cent and 37.7 per cent, respectively. Net sales in China increased by 13 per cent, driven by sales of both Samsonite and Samsonite Red, although growth in China decelerated in the second half due to some temporary pressures related to changes in channel preferences, such as department stores losing share to eCommerce, as well as uncertainties in the country’s short-term economic outlook.
South Korea’s sales increased by 4.5 per cent despite the negative impact from the Mers outbreak, while sales in India increased by 12 per cent driven by American Tourister. Sales in Hong Kong (including Macau) increased by 3.1 per cent, including the contribution from the Gregory brand, due to the impact from lower tourist arrivals from Mainland China.
“As a group, we navigated through some of the toughest trading conditions in 2015 that we have seen since the credit crisis,” said Samsonite chairman Tim Parker.
“Our creditable results, despite the various headwinds around the globe, is a vindication of our overall strategy to become effective sector specialists by offering many different brands covering a range of locally tailored travel lifestyle products across multiple distribution channels. As we lay the foundations for our future – such as in terms of shifting our channel strategy, expanding our offering of non-travel products and extending our coverage of the value market – we are confident that we can maintain double-digit constant currency sales growth for our business,” he said.
Tainwala added: “The fact that these very encouraging results were achieved against a backdrop of significant currency pressures and difficult trading conditions in many of our main markets is a testament to the effectiveness of our multi-brand, multi-category and multi-channel strategy to drive the sustained long-term growth of our business.
“The road ahead for us has never been more exciting, especially now with our recently announced agreement to acquire Tumi which will transform our business by further diversifying our product and customer portfolios with a leading business travel brand in the premium segment,” said Tainwala.
“While Asia was the main growth driver on the back of the success of Samsonite, American Tourister and Samsonite Red as well as some of our acquired brands, the star performer for the year was undoubtedly Europe, where our region-wide expansion of American Tourister has been extremely successful.”
Samsonsite’s global profit for the year attributable to shareholders increased by 6.1 per cent to US$197.6 million, or by 10.7 per cent on a constant currency basis.
