Under Armour Experiences Growth in 2010, Looks Forward to Prosperous 2011

Under Armour, the sportswear company whose global headquarters is based in Baltimore’s Tide Point complex, recently posted a fourth quarter profit that rose by nearly 51 percent, resulting in a revenue that passed $1 billion last year, a first in the company’s fifteen year history.

Over the last quarter of 2010, sales rose to the tune of a $22.9 million dollar profit, which is up from the $15.2 million profit that the company posted over the same period in 2009. This comes after revenue reportedly hit a gain of $301.2 million dollars, up 35 percent from the $202.2 million worth of revenue that was generated in the same period the year before.

The increase in money generated for the sportswear company is attributed, in part, to a successful introduction of basketball shoes as well as the expansion of Under Armour branded baseball cleats. As a result, the company saw footwear sales rise to $21.9 million in increased revenue over the fourth quarter of 2010, up from the $8.1 dollars in generated revenue during the last quarter of 2009.

The overall revenue generated for the company, $1.06 billion, was up a total of 24 percent from 2009’s overall sales of $856.4 million leading to posted earnings of $68.5 million.

The positive financial gains for the sportswear company comes amid the announcement that they plan on expanding their brand to include cotton clothing beginning the in the Spring. The first line of cotton wear will include shirts for both men and women and will retail for about $25.

When asked about expanding into the territory of making clothing from a material that the company was at one time adverse to, company founder Kevin Plank responded by saying that hesitancy to adopt cotton as a material to make clothing from was due to the fact that it would become so heavy with sweat when worn by athletes who typically buy their products.

Under Armour appears to have found a way around that, however.

Their cotton clothing will be constructed of specially made cotton yarns that release the wearer’s sweat when it comes into contact with the clothing, spreading the moisture across the surface area of the garment and speeding up the time that it takes for it to evaporate. This gives it the same moisture-wicking properties as the clothing that it built its $1 billion foundation on.

The clothing company’s plans for the future don’t stop with the company adopting a new fabric in order to expand its market appeal, however.

Along with introducing its brand of cotton clothing into the sportswear market, the company plans to open 25 additional outlet stores over the course of 2011. According to Brad Dickerson, the company’s Chief Financial Officer, the company can see itself in about 125 outlet locations, of which there are currently 54. He also went on to add that the company currently has no plans in place to open any more full sized retail stores.

Even with its expanding brand and interest in opening new outlet stores, Under Armour kept its positive forecasts coming with the company announcing its purchase of the Tide Point complex for $60.5 million dollars.

The company has used the complex as its headquarters since 2002 and shares the 14.6 acre property with several other tenants. It has, as of right now, not commented on what it plans to do with the property beyond “a few little things”, in Dickerson’s words.

Regardless of what the company plans to do with its newly acquired corporate campus, the sale of which will be complete in 90 days, its plans involving brand expansion and opening of more outlet stores make it clear that Under Armour intends for its 2011 to be even more profitable than its 2010 was.

Following its passing of the $1 billion milestone last year, it raised its projections for this year to meet at least $1.35 billion dollars in revenue and $143 million in increased profit.

The ambition that Under Armour has displayed following an extremely profitable year is right in line with the desire and ability to stay ahead of industry trends that many similar Baltimore based businesses like SEO by WebMechanix have shown as the country in general  begins working its way towards an economic recovery.

With its roots and future firmly planted in Baltimore and no signs of slowing down its growth anytime soon, it seems hopeful that Under Armour’s banner year is a precursor of things to come.