Mettawa, Ill.-based recreation giant Brunswick Corp., the parent company of Land ‘N’ Sea, a distributor that serves the RV and marine markets, reported net sales of $988 million in the second quarter, a 15 percent drop from the same period in 2019.
Despite the effect of COVID-19, CEO David Foulkes is optimistic.
“All our businesses outperformed our expectations in the quarter. Our resilient,
aftermarket-driven parts and accessories business supported consumers as stay-at-home
restrictions were lifted and boaters returned to the water in force,” said Foulkes. “Demand in the U.S. retail marine market accelerated into May and June resulting in robust new boat and engine sales, with sales to first-time purchasers or returning lapsed boaters representing approximately half of new boat sales. This surge in demand, together with the suspension of production at most of our manufacturing facilities from late-March into mid-April due to the pandemic, resulted in our lowest mid-season pipeline inventory levels in almost 20 years, with 34 percent fewer boats in dealer inventory versus the second quarter of 2019.”
In his statement, Foulkes elaborated on the Land ‘N’ Sea section of his diversified company.
“The parts and accessories segment, which contains engine parts and consumables,
electrical products, boat parts and systems, and the distribution business, reported
lower sales in the quarter as strong growth in the distribution business was offset by
lower sales in other businesses,” Foulkes said. “Both revenue and earnings were negatively affected by stay-at-home restrictions, which disrupted dealer, retail and OEM operations in
many locations in the first half of the quarter, and offset the impact of cost reduction
actions.”
