DELRAY BEACH, Florida – The Covid-19 lockdown hit Titleist and FootJoy parent Acushnet Co., hard in the second quarter of this year. Acushnet this morning reported its 2Q earnings at $2.3 million, a 94 percent drop compared to Q1. Acushnet reported 2Q sales at $300 million, down 35 percent compared to 1Q.
The Covid-19 lockdown essentially began late in the first quarter and continued through the first two months of the second quarter.
For the first six months of this year, Acushnet reported earnings of $11.2 million, an 85 percent drop compared to the first six months of 2019. Sales the first six months of 2020 fell 21 percent compared to the same period of 2019 to $709 million.
The company said Q2 sales of Titleist golf balls fell 41 percent compared to Q2 of 2019 to $102 million due to the Covid-19 pandemic. For the six months, Titleist golf ball sales were $218 million, a decline of 31 percent compared the same period in 2019.
Despite the poor (but not surprising) numbers, Acushnet Co., CEO David Maher was optimistic about the future.
“The game of golf, with its outdoor field of play and ease of social distancing, has been in high demand in recent months, and the broader golf community has done great work to safely welcome golfers back from shutdown and accommodate increased interest in the sport,” Maher said. “Following the re-opening of our production facilities and distribution centers in late May, we have seen strong demand across all segments of our business, and most notably for Titleist golf balls, which have directly benefited from increased rounds of play.”
Maher also said the company, this past June 30, repaid the $200 million it had drawn down on its revolving credit this past April because of uncertainty over the Covid-19 pandemic.
Callaway Golf Co., reported a second quarter 2020 loss of $168 million, including a pre-tax non-cash impairment charge of $174 million related to the Jack Wolfskin goodwill and trade name, compared to income of $29 million for the second quarter of 2019. Jack Wolfskin is Callaway’s Germany-based producer of outdoor wear and equipment.
The $174 million, pre-tax non-cash impairment charge basically can be viewed as an accounting procedure that could mean Callaway believes it overpaid for Wolfskin by that amount. Callaway acquired Wolfskin for $476 million in January 2019.
Callaway reported 2Q sales of $297 million in 2Q compared to $447 million the second quarter of 2019. The sales decline, of course, was largely due to the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdowns.
For the first six months of this year, Callaway reported sales of $739 million versus $963 million the same period in 2019. Callaway reported a loss of $139 million the first six months of 2020 compared to earnings of $78 million the first six months of 2019.
