Rossignol: excellent Financial Results

[beswift]

I just heard a piece on RFI: it seems they are picking up Quicksilver in an acquisition with the profits they have logged in this past quarter. I think Quicksilver is a boarder clothing company. It must be the board shorts all the Kiter's wear outside of their wetsuits that Rossi is going after.

 

[ctenidae]

Rossi must be looking to tap Quicksilver's production and distribution. Like K2 buying Marmot, I think teh equpment companies are starting to eye apparel more and more. Skis are a 5 year purchase for most people, but a new coat or pants or shirt is an every year thing. That's a pretty big market. The danger is, though, if they (either Rossi or K2) get caught up in the hype and spend more on making clothes than on bringing new skis to market.

 

[First Tracks]

I just heard a piece on RFI: it seems they are picking up Quicksilver in an acquisition with the profits they have logged in this past quarter. I think Quicksilver is a boarder clothing company. It must be the board shorts all the Kiter's wear outside of their wetsuits that Rossi is going after.

Y'all have it backwards:

http://news.ft.com/cms/s/efb010f6-5d98-11d9-ac01-00000e2511c8.html

 

[ctenidae]

Wow, that puts a different spin on things entirely.
If Quicksilver buys Rossi, one of two things happens, I think. Either Quicksilver shuts down the non-performing divisions (from that article, skis) and concentrates on the golf and clothing lines, or they spin the Rossi ski family off to either sink or swim on their own.
A third possibility is that they spend a lot of time and money turning the ski divisions around. Unfortunately, Quicksilver is an American company, and won't even consider throwing good money after bad.
No matter what, I'd look to see some big changes at Rossi in the next couple of years. With their market cap at $270M and debt at $159M, they are ripe for a takeover. Nike could buy up the stock without a vote, and if K2 is still acquisition- hungry, it could get ugly. Quicksilver wants to be friendly, but they don't appear to have the cash to defend Rossi if it came down to it.

 

[beswift]

French vs. English

Don't get involved in the balance between French interpretations of events and English. There's an outstanding joke which goes around academia. A French couple takes a weekend in London and visits Trafalga Sq. and Waterloo Station. When they get home someone asks them how it went. They reply >>Isn't it odd that the English have built monuments to French victories?<<

 

[beswift]

Y'all have it backwards:

RFI: Radio France Internationale out of Paris. Obviously, I don't have it backwards, I heard one side of the story. Thanks for the other. On top of that, as as to:

Like K2 buying Marmot, I think teh equpment companies are starting to eye apparel more and more. Skis are a 5 year purchase for most people, but a new coat or pants or shirt is an every year thing.

Obviously, you don't know much about sales in this business. The margins in clothing are quite remarkable. A retailer will carry hard goods like skiis only to draw the customers. The profits are in clothing. Whatever the label you put on it, the conglomerate is getting bigger, the rich are trying to get richer and I'm on my way out the door for a ski trip.

 

[ctenidae]

Actually, i do know a bit about sales, especially in the clothing side of things. Profits on clothes are fairly high (thank you, China), plus they're a much more common purchase, as I said. Why concentrate on skis, which you'll sell one pair every five years to a customer, when you can sell them a new pair of pants and a couple of fleeces every year?
You're very right about the conglomerates getting bigger. Industries as a whole are consolidating, adn ski equipment and apparel is no exception. If anything, they may be consolidating faster than the average. Once upon a time Rossignol was Rossignol, and that was that. Now, they own six other lines. K2 owns half the ski world now, too. They'll continue to concentrate the business until there are just a couple of companies left, and then they'll be bought by WalMart and Microsoft. Soon there will be war, and the battles between the MS Techweinies and the WalMart Sporting Goods salesmen will be epic. Especially since all the MS troops will be vulnerable to security breaches, and the WalMart forces will be equipped with cheap merchandise.

 

[bvibert]

Soon there will be war, and the battles between the MS Techweinies and the WalMart Sporting Goods salesmen will be epic. Especially since all the MS troops will be vulnerable to security breaches, and the WalMart forces will be equipped with cheap merchandise.

:lol: Thanks, that was a good visual to brighten up my morning :beer: