Umbro poised for busy year
Sports kit manufacturer Umbro today said strong demand for replica shirts ahead of the this summer’s World Cup meant 2006 would be an “exciting year” for the firm.
It already had large orders for the famous England Three Lions shirt and a range of other clothing, and was launching a global “One Love” advertising campaign in the build-up to the competition, Umbro said.
The lack of a major football tournament in 2005 and the loss of a contract to make Celtic shirts meant sales of licensed kit was down by over 10% last year.
However, demand for Chelsea shirts and casual Umbro clothes meant it made pre-tax profits before exceptionals of £23m (€33.5m), up 5.4%, on overall sales down 1.2% at £351.9m (€512.1m).
The new red England away kit was launched recently in controversial fashion, after supermarket chain Asda put 22,000 of the shirts on sale early after sourcing them from the 'grey' market in Europe.
