| Callaway
Profit Rises Callaway
Golf achieved a profit of around £40 million for the first six month of this year
on sales of more than £320 million - compared with figures of £24 million and
£270 million for the same period in 1999. Club
sales in the second quarter exceeded £180 million, the highest for any quarter
in the company's history, but ball sales of under £7 million were lower than expectations.
"We are
very pleased and excited about our Company and the long term prospects,"
said chairman and CEO Ely Callaway. "Callaway Golf's club business is enjoying
record sales and profitability, but we anticipate these strong early season sales
will cannibalize sales we otherwise would have expected to make in the third and
fourth quarters. These quarters are traditionally affected by seasonality in any
event and so it's unlikely that we can continue to sustain club sales at a sufficient
level to offset golf ball losses in these later quarters." Meanwhile,
Callaway have consolidated sales, manufacturing, research and development in a
review of their three-year strategic plan. "We have decided that now is the
best time to take advantage of the exceptional strengths and skills that exist
within our current management team and put them to better use," said Callaway.
Manufacturing
and operations will be headed by Ron Drapeau, global sales will be under the direction
of Mick McCormick, and research and development will be the responsibility of
Richard C. Helmstetter. All three will report directly to comapny president Chuck
Yash. Reporting
directly to Ely Callaway are chief finance officer Brad Holiday, chief legal officer
Steve McCracken, public relations officer Larry Dorman, and Australian Ian Rowden,
a 40-year-old former Coca Cola executive who is the new vice-president of global
advertising. *Adams
Golf, by contrast, reported a second quarter loss of almost £5 million compared
to a profit of £600,000 in the same period a year ago. Sales
for the quarter were just over £8 million compared to nearly £17 million over
the same period in 1999. | 
