Vista Outdoor announces $50M cost reduction program

In a regulatory filing, the company states: "On April 3, 2023, the Company announced an over $50 million cost reduction and earnings improvement program, which includes office closures, spending cuts, EBIT improvements and headcount reductions across our brands and corporate teams. The changes are being implemented in response to elevated retail inventory levels, rising interest rates and inflation, which have pressured our top and bottom lines and impacted our outlook for Fiscal Year 2024. The changes will help the Company compete in the current challenging economic environment and prepare for the separation of its Outdoor Products and Sporting Products segments into two independent, publicly traded companies, which is expected to occur in calendar year 2023. Within the Company’s Outdoor Products segment, the Company is accelerating the merger of its Bell, Blackburn, Copilot, Fox, Giro, Krash and Raskullz businesses through leadership and facility consolidations. As part of these measures, the current Bell/Giro headquarters in Scotts Valley, California, will be closed effective September 1, 2023, with affected employees relocating to a revamped Innovation Center in the current Fox Headquarters in Irvine, California. Within the Company’s Sporting Products segment, the Company is promoting Jason Vanderbrink to Chief Executive Officer of Sporting Products, effective immediately. Mr. Vanderbrink will continue to serve as President of Sporting Products for the Company. Following the Separation, Mr. Vanderbrink will continue to serve as President and Chief Executive Officer of the new Sporting Products Company. At the Corporate level, the Company has taken steps to streamline its corporate costs and operating model by reducing headcount, cutting outside spend and redeploying resources to maximize brand autonomy and corporate scale. These changes will drive efficiencies in the deployment of corporate services and enable more results from our Supply Chain, E-commerce, Licensing and M&A Centers of Excellence. The cost reductions bring Vista Outdoor’s Fiscal Year 2024 strategic priorities into focus and help prepare the Company for the Separation this year."