Ashworth Sales Rise

Ashworth's nine-month sales to the end of July show a 15.6 per cent increase over the same period a year ago to more than £65 million. The Californian apparel company increased profits over the period by 67.7 percent to almost £4 million.

Ashworth president Randy Herrel said: "With a deeper basic inventory and an expanded sales force, we expect our corporate channel will continue to provide diversification and an attractive growth opportunity for us.

"In addition, we believe that recent announcement of Ashworth's selection as
a primary vendor for the US Open as well as the Solheim Cup in Europe further
confirms the strength of our brand and design direction.''