"Today's announcement represents an important strategic step for the Group as we continue to develop the Tumi business globally," said Mr. Ramesh Tainwala, Chief Executive Officer. "The appetite for the Tumi brand and products in South Korea is strong and growing. With control of our distribution, we intend to build on the momentum by leveraging Samsonite's on-the-ground resources and market knowledge to further expand Tumi's presence in the country."
"South Korea is a key market in Asia with considerable growth potential in the premium luggage and bag segment," continued Mr. Tainwala. "We are grateful to TKI for establishing Tumi as a premium business and travel lifestyle brand in South Korea over the last nine years. There is significant opportunity to further build on the solid foundations that TKI has laid. We intend to deliver significant revenue and profit growth over the long term by implementing strong marketing initiatives to enhance Tumi's brand equity and awareness, and utilizing Samsonite's retail and wholesale network to further penetrate the South Korean market."
TKI, Inc. has been Tumi's distributor in South Korea since March 2006. It operated 34 points-of-sale in South Korea as of December 31, 2016, including 17 Tumi retail stores as well as shop-in-shops in duty-free operators and department stores. For the year ended December 31, 2015, TKI reported net sales of US$30.6 million, an increase of US$2.3 million, or 8.0%, from US$28.4 million in the previous year1.
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About SamsoniteSamsonite International S.A. (together with its consolidated subsidiaries, the "Group") is the world's largest travel luggage company, with a heritage dating back more than 100 years. The Group is principally engaged in the design, manufacture, sourcing and distribution of luggage, business and computer bags, outdoor and casual bags, travel accessories and slim protective cases for personal electronic devices throughout the world, primarily under the Samsonite®, Tumi®, American Tourister®, Hartmann®, High Sierra®, Gregory®, Speck®, Lipault® and Kamiliant® brand names as well as other owned and licensed brand names.
1 Based on TKI's financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2015, which were prepared in accordance with Korean GAAP. Results are converted to U.S. Dollars using the year-to-date average exchange rate of 1,132 KRW = 1 USD as of December 31, 2015.
For more information, please contact: Samsonite International S.A. - Hong Kong BranchWilliam Yue
Tel: (852) 2422 2611
Fax: (852) 2480 1808
Email: william.yue@samsonite.com
Artemis AssociatesDiana Footitt Tel: +852 2861 3488 Mob: +852 9183 0667 Email: diana.footitt@artemisassociates.com Karen Tang Tel: +852 2861 3227 Mob: +852 9864 2986 Email: karen.tang@artemisassociates.com | John Dawson Tel: +852 2861 3266 Mob: +852 6903 8878 Email: john.dawson@artemisassociates.com Jeffrey Chow Tel: +852 2861 3278 Mob: +852 9812 0662 Email: Jeffrey.chow@artemisassociates.com |
Jonathan Clare Tel: +44 207 680 6500 | Clotilde Gros Tel: +44 207 680 6522 Mob: +44 789 9790 749 | Madeleine Palmstierna Tel: +44 207 680 6529 Mob: +44 777 1620 652 |
Email: samsonite@newgatecomms.com |
This announcement contains forward-looking statements. All statements other than statements of historical fact contained in this announcement, including, without limitation, the discussions of the Group's business strategies and expectations concerning future operations, margins, profitability, liquidity and capital resources, the future development of the Group's industry and the future development of the general economy of the Group's key markets and any statements preceded by, followed by or that include words and expressions such as "expect", "seek", "believe", "plan", "intend", "estimate", "project", "anticipate", "may", "will", "would" and "could" or similar words or statements, as they relate to the Group or its management, are intended to identify forward- looking statements.
These statements are subject to certain known and unknown risks, uncertainties and assumptions, which may cause the Group's actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Accordingly, you should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking information.
Subject to the requirements of applicable laws, rules and regulations, the Group does not have any and undertakes no obligation to update or otherwise revise the forward-looking statements in this announcement, whether as a result of new information, future events or developments or otherwise. In this announcement, statements of or references to the Group's intentions are made as of the date of this announcement. Any such intentions may change in light of future developments. All forward-looking statements contained in this announcement are qualified by reference to the cautionary statements set out above.
Samsonite International SA published this content on 04 January 2017 and is solely responsible for the information contained herein.
Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 04 January 2017 14:17:07 UTC.
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