Marine retailer MarineMax’s first quarter of fiscal 2025 was strained by back-to-back hurricanes and softened retail demand.
“We ended fiscal [2024] focused on the cleanup and restoration of many of our locations from Hurricane Helene and spent a fair portion of the first quarter of fiscal 2025 repeating the process as a result of Hurricane Milton,” President and Chief Executive Brett McGill said on the company’s Jan. 23 earnings call.
The Clearwater, Fla.-based retailer’s finance and insurance (F&I) product revenue made up 3.1%, or about $14.5 million, of total revenue in Q1, down 5.2% year over year, according to an Auto Finance News analysis of the company’s Jan. 23 10-Q filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Total revenue was down 11.2% YoY, landing at $468.5 million in the company’s Q1, which ended Dec. 31.
Much like in fiscal 2024, there were “decreases in the availability of credit and increases in the cost of credit,” according to the filing, that weighed on consumers’ ability to purchase boats, decreasing the retailer’s F&I product sales.
MarineMax is the largest retailer of Sea Ray and Boston Whaler recreational boats, manufactured by Brunswick Corp., sales of which accounted for about 20% of MarineMax’s revenue in fiscal year 2024, according to the filing.
Brunswick boat sales fall 18%
Brunswick on Dec. 31 closed out its fourth quarter of fiscal 2024. Boat sales declined in the double-digits YoY as inventories were slightly healthier.
The Mettawa, Ill.-based manufacturer’s boat sales amounted to $348.3 million in Q4, down 18% YoY, according to Brunswick’s 8-K filing with the SEC today. The decline was largely driven by softer wholesale orders, muted dealer ordering and elevated discounts, according to the company.
Full-year net sales declined 18.2% YoY to $5.2 billion in 2024, according to Brunswick’s earnings presentation today. Brunswick projects 2025 full-year net sales to be flat compared with 2024, Ryan Gwillim, executive vice president and CFO, said on the company’s earnings call today.
“Our underlying market assumption for this guidance is a U.S. boat retail market that is flat to 2024 in terms of retail units sold. There are good reasons to believe that the market could outperform a flat assumption, but we consider this the most balanced assumption on which to base our initial guidance.” — Ryan Gwillim, Brunswick
Navigating inventories, promotions
Net inventories for Brunswick totaled $1.3 billion, down 13.3% YoY, as finished goods inventory fell 9.1% YoY to $846.9 million in Q4, according to the 8-K filing.
Brunswick’s CEO David Foulkes added on today’s call, “I don’t see the same need for additional incremental discounting on prior model year, and I don’t see the same dynamic of having to clear out pipelines.”
At MarineMax, however, inventories rose 18% YoY to just over $1 billion in Q1 fiscal 2025, according to its 10-Q filing. By comparison, inventories were $876.2 million in Q1 fiscal 2024.
“When you have less sales and you have the product that you were hoping to sell, you have a little higher inventory,” MarineMax’s CFO Mike McLamb said on the Jan. 23 earnings call. “Promotional activity will remain elevated in the second quarter with improvement as we move into the back half of the fiscal year. I feel comfortable that as we move through 2025, inventories will improve and come in check overall.”
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