War in Ukraine and rising inflation fails to dampen Shimano tackle sales

Fishing tackle giant, Shimano, has reported a 14.1% increase in fishing tackle sales in the First Quarter of the year as the boom in participation in the sport continued and despite rising inflation across the globe and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The Japanese company said that economic sanctions imposed on Russia by western nations have created global energy supply shortages and a sudden rise in the price of raw materials, putting downward pressure on personal consumption.

These problems apart, Shimano told investors this morning that continuing from the previous year, fishing was welcomed by a wide range of users and the tackle market thrived and maintained high demand around the world. As a result, sales rose to 25,767 million yen and operating income increased 14.8% to 5,564 million yen.

It added that in Japan, while there were signs of a lull in the fishing boom, high demand for various fishing products continued. It was a similar picture in North America, while sales remained strong in Europe despite the impact that the situation in Ukraine and rising inflation has had on consumers.

In Asia, demand for tackle, mainly in the Chinese market, also remained strong and sales were solid, as was the case in Australia, although sales stagnated in some areas due to heavy rain damage.

Shimano also reported that products, including the Stella (main picture) and Aero Technium MGA spinning reels, alongside the Expride rod, were well received by the market.

On a group level, overall sales for Q1 increased by 13.9% from the same period last year to 144,047 million yen.