WESTPORT, CT (BRAIN)—Annual sales for Fox Racing Shox fell 7.8 percent in 2009, but the company saw signs of recovery in the fourth quarter with double-digit growth during the last three months of the year.
Fox reported net sales of $121.5 million in 2009 compared with $131.7 million in 2008 and $105.7 million in 2007. In the fourth quarter, revenue rose 13.4 percent, from $30.6 million in 2008 to $34.6 million for the same three-month period last year.
Bookings for 2010 are well ahead of 2009 for this time of year, said Joe Massoud, CEO of Compass Diversified Holdings, Fox's parent company.
The decrease in sales for the year comes from a $12.7 million decline in the mountain biking sector “due to the impact of the global economic recession, which created excess capacity in the industry, particularly in the first half of the year, according to an annual report filed by Compass to the Securities and Exchange Commission.
International sales totaled $84 million in 2009—$35.6 million of that to Taiwan—compared with $92.5 in 2008 when Taiwan business accounted for $44.8 million.
In 2010, strategies for further growth include expanding revenue powered vehicles business, similar to last year’s partnership with Ford for the F-150 Raptor Off-Road Truck, seeking opportunities for international growth and growing aftermarket sales, which declined $2.4 million in 2009 to $29 million.
"The sale of aftermarket parts typically carries higher gross margins than a similar OEM sale," the company said. " Fox is further investing in its aftermarket sales infrastructure to foster sales growth in 2010 and beyond. One of the simplest and most effective ways for customers to improve their performance is the purchase and installation of an aftermarket Fox suspension product when compared to the expense of purchasing an entirely new platform."
Fox sells its suspension products for mountain bikes, snowmobiles, all terrain vehicles, motorcycles and off-road vehicles to more than 200 OEM and 7,600 aftermarket customers.
—Nicole Formosa
