Malibu’s Aussie boat-making outpost helps US parent’s turnaround

Fresh in the wake of taking on Pursuit, the $US100 million saltwater fishing boat brand it added to its growing portfolio in October last year, Malibu reported it had earned a net income of $US14.2 million ($A19.6 million) for the quarter, compared with the $US6.4 million loss it posted in the same three-month period to December in the previous year in the wake of its $US130 million acquisition of leisure boating brand Cobalt.

The company reported that net sales from its Albury-based outpost in Australia increased $US400,000, or 5.4 per cent, to $US7.3 million for the three months ended December 31, 2018, compared to the same period in 2017. This was split between almost $US6.9 million in boat and trailer sales – the figures show 99 boats were sold in the preiod, a 5.6 per cent increase over the same period in 2017 – and about $US450,000 in parts and other sales.

Australia's sales figures reflect the observation that a key to Malibu’s global success in the period was a big lift in the number of boats it built, up more than 18 per cent to 1760 compared with the same three-month period in 2017.

According to the company, a 45 percent increase in global sales revenue in the quarter was driven “primarily by strong demand for new models and optional features”, indicating buyers were really keen to kit out their new ride with showroom extras.

However, eating into Malibu’s earnings was a big almost 50 per cent jump in selling and marketing costs in the US, largely attributed to the expenses coming in the wake of Pursuit’s acquisition.

Malibu’s Australian division is launching into 2019 with the release of the Malibu 22 LSV, an updated version of its most popular ski and wakeboarding boat. Generating more excitement, though, is an all-new ski boat, the Malibu Response TXR, which is built exclusively for the Australian market and features a number of homegrown features that could one day roll out to Malibu’s other global products.

The company is also waiting on the release of a new 5.3-litre V8 that will power new generations of its watercraft.

Malibu Australia, which also produces a range of entry-level ski and wakeboarding boats under the Axis Wake Research brand, hasn’t dismissed the idea that it could one day start also building boats tuned for Australian conditions under the Pursuit or Cobalt nameplates.

“It could be possible, especially the Cobalt class first,” Malibu’s global chief executive, Jack Springer, told boatsales.com.au on a recent visit to the Albury factory.

“If we start seeing that a particular model, call it an R3 or an R5, is generating enough volume in Australia, that it makes sense to build, then we would absolutely look at that,” he said.

Malibu builds boats in Australia in response to local towing standards, which restrict the beam of a boat to 2.5 metres. In the US, boats are built to 2.6-metre beam, complicating the way Australian owners get them to and from a boat ramp.