Vista Outdoor to increase focus on ammunition business, reported wider-than-expected loss

Vista Outdoor Inc. announced a business transformation plan, in which it will focus on its core brands in ammunition, hunting and shooting accessories, hydration bottles and packs and outdoor cooking products. The company said it will explore strategic options for brands that fall outside of those categories. "Vista Outdoor is excited about the potential of each of our core businesses, particularly ammunition, which is our largest core business," said Chief Executive Chris Metz. "An increased focus on our heritage ammunition business will manifest itself in more innovative and breakthrough new products introduced over the next few years." Separately, the company swung to a fiscal fourth-quarter net loss of $15.9 million, or 28 cents a share, from a profit of $857 million, or 2 cents a share, in the same period a year ago, citing "unfavorable pricing" in ammunition categories and increased promotional activity and rebates in its shooting sports business. Excluding non-recurring items, the adjusted per-share loss was 22 cents, missing the FactSet consensus for a per-share loss of 15 cents. Sales fell 1% to $571.2 million, but was above the FactSet consensus of $519.4 million. For fiscal 2019, the company expects revenue of $2.205 billion to $2.265 billion, compared with the FactSet consensus of $2.269 billion. The stock, which was still inactive in premarket trade, has rallied 15% year to date, while the S&P 500 has slipped 1%.

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