Despite record sales, the past financial year was tough for Fischer. Delivery delays in particular “are hitting us hard now,” says director Franz Föttinger. Now the sporting goods manufacturer from Ried im Innkreis is also fighting to regain trust.
What will next winter look like? You can ask Franz Föttinger this question in the middle of summer. Now that mid-September, the 54-year-old already has a good idea of the coming months. As director of Fischer Sports, he does not know how active Mrs. Holle will be in the coming months, but the orders from the sporting goods retailer allow us to draw conclusions.
For a precise analysis, you first have to look back: last winter was quite messy for the residents of Innviertel. On the one hand, the prolonged lack of snow inhibited the desire for new ski equipment. There were also supply problems as the start-up phase of the Mukachevo plant was disrupted due to the war in Ukraine.
With the help of temporary workers and additional shifts, the manufacturer of alpine and cross-country skis, ski boots and ice hockey sticks from Ried im Innkreis did everything it could to get the production backlogs under control, but in the end it took until February, three months longer than usual, until all orders were received. have been processed.
Full warehouses combined with uncertainty
“This is now coming to our attention,” says Föttinger, who has noticed a drop in orders. Because dealer warehouses are full and there is uncertainty about how inflation will affect demand.
Decrease in turnover expected
Föttinger is not impressed by this and uses the internal motto: “We want to prove that we have delivery reliability.” Logistics was already busy in July “to get as much out of it as possible”. In the past financial year, Fischer increased its turnover to a record high of € 198.5 million. And 2023/24? “We plan with less,” says Föttinger.
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
