CAPE TOWN, South Africa (BRAIN) — Protective gear maker Leatt Corporation is seeing strong growth in the U.S. market this year, with sales up 33 percent in the third quarter and 19 percent for the year to date.
Globally, Leatt's sales growth has been less explosive, the company said in an earnings statement this week. For the three months ending Sept. 30 revenues were $4.6 million, with net income of $39,000 as compared to revenues of $4.7 million, with net income of $179,000 for the same quarter last year
For the nine months that ended Sept. 30, Leatt's revenues were $13.2 million, down from $13.9 million last year.
"We are making solid progress in our overall strategic goal to broaden the scope of Leatt product design and development, targeting new and larger growth markets, year-round sports, and both pro and amateur athletes," said CEO Sean Macdonald. "We continue to be encouraged during the quarter by our progress in the U.S., the world's largest geographic market. Our sales and marketing results in the U.S. represents the best example of our strategy, our execution and our operational effectiveness. The U.S. is where we have our closest ties to the consumer and we believe that the progress we are seeing so far there bodes well for our future success.
Founder and chairman, Dr. Christopher Leatt, said, "Our dedicated team of engineers and designers have created the most extensive pipeline of new products in the history of Leatt. Commencing in the fourth quarter and continuing throughout 2017, we plan to reveal lighter, slimmer, yet more robust knee braces, designed for adults and juniors; the lightest and most comfortable helmets we have ever created for off-road moto sports; new full-face helmets with chin bars and visors for bicyclists; new all mountain and enduro helmets, a modification of our first helmets for more mainstream bicycle use; and our DBX bicycle apparel line. We are excited about the innovations that are queued up for future rollout in the marketplace."
Leatt helmet sales, including the GPX 5.5 Composite helmet, the GPX 6.5 Carbon helmet, the DBX 6.0 Carbon helmet and the DBX 5.0 Composite helmets, accounted for $1.3 million of revenues for the year to date.
Leatt sponsors and suppliers pro racer Danny Hart, who won three UCI Downhill World Cup rounds in a row this year, as well as the DH world championship title.
Leatt's stock is traded on the OTCQB market under the LEAT symbol.
