Streur, Denmark – Bang & Olufsen’s global first-quarter sales slipped 5.7 percent to 566 million DKK ($103.4 million), and first-quarter losses grew 12.8 percent to 53 million DKK ($9.68 million) compared to the year-ago quarter.
The first quarter of the 2013/2014 fiscal year ended in August.
For the quarter, the company’s consumer product sales slipped 9.8 percent to 397 million DKK $72.5 million), with consumer A/V sales, consisting mainly of home audio and TVs, falling 18.4 percent to 279 million DKK ($51 million). Sales of the new B&O Play subbrand, however, rose 19 percent to 118 million DKK ($21.6 million).
First-quarter sales to automakers rose 12.7 percent to 151 million DKK.
Also in the quarter, North American consumer product sales slipped 23.8 percent to 32 million DKK ($5.48 million). For the previous year, however, North American consumer sales were up 28.6 percent to 180 million DKK ($32.9 million).
The company’s first-quarter loss followed a fiscal 2012/2013, ending May 2013, in which the company posted a 160 million DKK loss on a sales decline of 6.5 percent to 2,814 million DKK. The loss in the 2012/2013 fiscal year followed two years of profits of 73 million DKK and 28 million DKK following two consecutive years of losses that hit 383 million DKK in the 2008/2009 fiscal year but fell to 33 million DKK in 2009/2010.
Currency was converted at a rate of $1=5.48DKK.
