Vista Outdoor loses $5.5M in fiscal year

Vista Outdoor lost $5.5 million in its 2024 fiscal year that ended March 31, according to a Wednesday news release from the company.

This is the second consecutive year the company has reported a loss. Vista Outdoor lost $9.7 million in its 2023 fiscal year after making $473 million in its 2022 fiscal year, according to previous company news releases.

Vista Outdoor is the parent company of ammunition maker CCI/Speer, one of Lewiston’s largest employers.

Sales for fiscal year 2024 dropped in both the ammunition sector of the business, called The Kinetic Group, and the recreation products part of Vista Outdoor, called Revelyst, compared with the previous fiscal year, according to the news release.

The lower sales volume in ammunition were in nearly all categories and involved factors such as lower pricing, according to the news release. Besides CCI/Speer, The Kinetic Group includes Federal, Remington and Hevi-Shot.

“We have a strong order position going into the new fiscal year and there are backlogs in several product categories that strengthen our confidence in delivering on financial expectations,” Jason Vanderbrink, co-CEO of Vista Outdoor and CEO of The Kinetic Group, said in the news release.

“Some challenges remain related to higher commodity input costs, including for powder and copper, but pricing actions taken to offset the increased production costs have not impacted open orders,” Vanderbrink said.

Increased discounting affected sales in Revelyst, which includes brands such as Camelbak and Camp Chef.

The news release on Vista Outdoor’s financial performance comes at a time when the company is weighing two options for its ownership.

A shareholder vote on a $1.91 billion offer from the Czechoslovak Group to acquire The Kinetic Group and make it part of a private, foreign company is set for June 14. That deal is being reviewed by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States. The Kinetic Group is the largest U.S. ammunition maker.

Vista Outdoor is confident it will get clearance from the Committee on Foreign Investment and continues to recommend it to stockholders, according to Wednesday’s news release.

Under that proposal, Revelyst would be spun into a separate, publicly traded company.

At the same time, Dallas-based MNC Capital has proposed acquiring all of Vista Outdoor for $37.50 per share. Vista Outdoor has advised MNC to increase its offer price, according to the Wednesday news release.

Vista Outdoor executives will make a presentation and answer questions today in a conference call, broadcast online, for stock market analysts.

Williams may be contacted at ewilliam@lmtribune.com or (208) 848-2261.