ROTTERDAM, The Netherlands, Oct. 16, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- Head N.V. (NYSE:HED (VSX:HEAD), a leading global manufacturer and marketer of sports equipment, announced today that Claudio Ferrantino, the Managing Director of the Diving Division and President of HTM Sport S.p.A., Italy, will be retiring at the end of the year.
Claudio joined the company in 1973 as the export sales director and became President and Managing Director in 1991. During that time he has helped Mares evolve into a leading global diving brand with a reputation for innovation, quality and style.
He has undertaken a number of key projects whilst with the company including the acquisitions of SporaSub in 1994 and Dacor in 1998 and has overseen the development of cutting edge products including the revolutionary Hub and the Proton regulator which have both won awards and captured market share.
Johan Eliasch, Chairman and CEO commented: "I would like to extend an enormous thank you to Claudio from both myself and on behalf of the entire group for his incredible hard work and success with the company and for installing in the company the passion that he has for diving."
About Head
Head NV is a leading global manufacturer and marketer of premium sports equipment. We are a technology driven company, our motto being "Superior Performance Through Superior Technology."
We can trace our roots back to 1950 when Howard Head, the inventor of the first metal ski, founded the company. The Tyrolia bindings and Mares diving brands were added in the 1970's and more recently the Penn balls and Dacor diving brands were acquired during the 1990's.
Head NV has been under its present management since 1996 and was listed on the New York Stock Exchange and the Vienna Stock Exchange in September 2000.
Our current operations are organized into four divisions: Winter Sports, Racquet Sports, Diving and Licensing.
Within these divisions we have created or acquired some of the most recognizable brands in the sporting goods market including:
Head
Tennis, squash and racquetball racquets; alpine skis and ski boots; snowboarding boards, bindings and boots; accessories and apparel
Penn
Tennis and racquetball balls
Tyrolia
Alpine ski bindings
Mares/Dacor Diving equipment
Our key ski, racquet and diving products all have leading market positions and appeal to a wide range of consumers from novices to some of the world's top athletes including Andre Agassi, Rainer Schuettler, Hannes Trinkl and Francisco "Pipin" Ferreras.
Our products are sold through over 30,000 accounts including pro shops, specialty sporting goods stores and mass merchants in over 80 countries around the world.
Our strategy has always been to develop groundbreaking products positioned at middle to high price points. We believe this helps us achieve our financial returns as well as gain market share.
Please visit our website: www.head.com
The press release including tables can be downloaded from the following link: http://hugin.info/133711/R/920729/124064.pdf