Company chairman Klaus Jost told German newspaper Handelsblatt on Monday that business in the firm’s 1,500 branches across the country, was very weather-dependent.

“Customers buy what they need when they need it” he said. This means that not only do sales of skiing gear drop during warmer weather, but do not pick up properly if the cold and snow fail to materialise in the winter.

2011 has so far been particularly difficult for Intersport because of the mild early months of the year and an unseasonably warm spring, which curtailed sales of outdoor jackets.

Then as the summer failed to reach normal temperatures, sales for summer sport equipment and clothing were also disappointing. So far the warm weather through September has also failed to fire up sales of winter clothing and equipment.

Jost remained optimistic though. “This isn’t the end of the world; over the past three years we’ve had high enough profits to compensate for this year’s slump,” he said.

Whether or not the company will make up the profits in the remaining months of 2011, is yet to be determined.

DPA/The Local/jcw