ROTTERDAM, The Netherlands, Nov. 13, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- HEAD Winter Sports continues global advanceNovember 13, 2003. Although market conditions continue to be difficult for the winter sports industry as a whole and sales volumes internationally continue to decline, HEAD has posted increases in all its product groups -- skis, bindings, boots, snowboards - in all its markets worldwide, and has continued to consolidate its market position internationally.
For the nine months ended September 2003 HEAD's global order volumes grew substantially across the board: skis were up by 9.4%, bindings climbed 21%, ski boots rose by 14.3%, while snowboards jumped 38.6%. HEAD's performance in terms of value - measured in its reporting currency, the US dollar - has been even more impressive, with growth rates of between 38.9% for skis and 51.0% for snowboards. In part this is attributable to the euro's prevailing strength against the dollar, but it is also the result of HEAD's skis targeting the high quality market segments.
These results are extremely gratifying to Head, and are all the more commendable at a time when the global market for alpine skis has shrunk by 300,000 to a total of 4.2 million pairs. In its core markets Germany and Austria, for example, according to GFK ski sales in the winter season 2002/03 were down by 15% and 10% respectively. On the basis of this and other marketing data, the industry expects order bookings for calendar 2003 to remain static at best.
Between January and September 2003 Head recorded significant growth in its key markets around the world: in Austria, for example, the volume of orders for skis was up by 22%, for bindings by 1.1%, for boots by 32.6% and for snowboards by 23.6%. These encouraging results are above all attributable to HEAD's ability to innovate. Intelligence Technology, first introduced in February 2002, has been very well received by customers globally. Tyrolia, with its unique Railflex Technology, continues to dominate the market for bindings and maintains its position as undisputed market leader both in Austria and worldwide.
HEAD's Edge brand ski boots also made a major contribution to the increase in exports achieved: order intake in the USA up to the end of September had climbed by 15.6% and in Germany by 17.3%.
About HEAD HEAD NV is a leading global manufacturer and marketer of premium sports equipment. HEAD NV's ordinary shares are listed on the New York Stock Exchange ("HED") and the Vienna Stock Exchange ("HEAD"). Our business is organized into four divisions: Winter Sports, Racquet Sports, Diving and Licensing. We sell products under the HEAD (tennis, squash and racquetball racquets, alpine skis and ski boots, snowboards, snowboard bindings and boots), Penn (tennis and racquetball balls), Tyrolia (ski bindings), and Mares/Dacor (diving equipment) brands. We hold leading positions in all of our product markets and our products are endorsed by some of the world's top athletes including Andre Agassi, Rainer Schuettler, Marat Safin, Marco Buechel and Francisco "Pipin" Ferreras.