The Swiss sporting goods supplier On Holding AG grew beyond its own expectations in the first quarter of the 2023 financial year. In the first three months, On saw significant increases in both sales and profits.
In the months from January to March, the profit was 44.4 million Swiss francs (45.68 million euros) and was three times as high as the previous year’s result of 14.3 million Swiss francs.
In a year-on-year comparison, On Holding AG was also able to significantly increase its net sales. In the first quarter, this amounted to 420.2 million Swiss francs, an increase of 78 percent compared to the same quarter of the previous year.
“Our record first quarter net sales are further evidence of strong brand momentum across geographies, channels and product groups,” said Martin Hoffmann, Co-CEO and CFO of On. The positive sales development was supported by a largely normalized supply chain environment compared to the previous year, said Hoffmann.
Shoes remain a hobby and the biggest source of sales
With 400.5 million Swiss francs, the footwear product category (+ 80 percent) was responsible for the majority of sales, followed by clothing with 16.9 million Swiss francs (+ 49 percent) and accessories with 2.8 million Swiss francs (+ 52 Percent). Wholesale contributed 283.2 million Swiss francs (+ 86 percent) to total sales, while the direct-to-consumer business turned over 137 million Swiss francs (+ 64 percent).
With sales of 270.2 million Swiss francs and growth of 91.9 percent compared to the same quarter last year, the American focus was On’s top-selling region. In Europe, sales grew by 52 percent to 118.9 million Swiss francs and in the Asia-Pacific region by 89 percent to 31.1 million Swiss francs.
Full order books and a positive view of the future
Caspar Coppetti, Co-Founder and Executive Co-Chairman of On echoed the words of praise from his Co-CEOs: “We started 2023 with great ambitions and are very pleased to continue on our growth trajectory and increased profitability in the first quarter of the year year.”
The strong first quarter and full order books for the second half of the year also prompted On to raise its forecast for the current financial year. Most recently, sales should increase by 39 percent to 1.7 billion Swiss francs, and the company is now expecting earnings of at least 1.74 billion Swiss francs.