Brunswick Posts Record Profit, Lower Margins

Brunswick Corp. reported higher second-quarter revenue and profit, posting its first-ever quarter with $300 million of adjusted earnings while benefiting from higher prices.

Sales jumped 18.1 percent to $1.84 billion in the quarter, compared with the second quarter of 2021, the Mettawa, Ill.-based conglomerate said in an earnings statement yesterday. Operating earnings were $279 million, an increase of 11 percent versus the year-earlier quarter. Adjusted operating earnings totaled $300.2 million.

Operating margin narrowed to 15.2 percent from 16.4 percent in last year’s second quarter. Brunswick CEO David Foulkes emphasized that the company is focusing on cost control and operating efficiency while still investing in new capacity.

The quarterly results “continued our trend of exceptional performance in a challenging macro-economic landscape,” Foulkes said in the earnings statement.

“Consumer demand for our products remained strong as we worked through a period of tougher year-over-year retail comparisons versus a particularly strong first half of 2021, while being impacted by continued low field inventory and some enduring supply-chain disruptions,” Foulkes said.

He said global boat field inventory levels were 55 percent lower at the end of the second quarter versus the same time in 2019, prepandemic. Inventories in the saltwater fish and fiberglass categories, in particular, stand at historic lows, with “substantial backlogs” of orders at the retail level.

Brunswick said it narrowed its full-year, non-GAAP guidance while continuing to envision low inventory levels and strong boating participation.

“Despite external headwinds, including increasingly unfavorable foreign currency exchange rates, inflation and remaining supply chain and freight disruptions, we continue to have good visibility on our ability to drive growth,” the company said, resulting in updated guidance for full-year net sales of between $6.9 billion and $7.1 billion. Adjusted diluted earnings per share is now forecast at $10 to $10.30.

Brunswick said third-quarter revenue will grow in the “mid-20s percent” compared with the third quarter of 2021, with expected per-share earnings of $2.50 to $2.65.