Rapala, the Finnish brand of fishing equipment, finished the fourth quarter with a 1 percent rise in sales to €60.8 million, underpinned by the North American market, up by 12 percent to €18.7 million. Market expectations were for a quarterly turnover of €62.0 million. Excluding non-recurring items, the Ebit margin slipped to 4.0 percent in the quarter from 7.1 percent a year earlier. The reported margin also slumped to 5.8 percent from 6.9 percent, despite a €1.1 million gain from the disposal of the company’s gift business. Group net profit shrank to €1.1 million from €1.8 million. Rapala expects sales and comparable Ebit to be higher in 2012 than in 2011. It added that its debt-to-equity ratio fell to an all-time low of 67.2 percent at the end of December, giving it leeway for acquisitions.
