Johnson Outdoors Inc. reported earnings results for the first quarter ended January 1, 2016. For the quarter, the company reported net sales of $85.30 million compared to $70.82 million a year ago. Operating loss was $0.90 million compared to $7.33 million a year ago. Primary drivers behind the favorable quarter-to-quarter comparison were significantly higher volume and lower legal expense. Loss before income taxes was $0.519 million compared to $6.92 million a year ago. Net loss was $0.534 million or $0.05 per diluted share compared to $4.194 million or $0.42 per diluted share a year ago. At January 1, 2016 net of debt was $17.8 million compared to cash, net of debt of $25.1. Capital spending totaled $2.5 million during the first fiscal quarter compared with $1.8 million in the 2015 first fiscal quarter.

The company's effective tax rate was -2.9% for the quarter and is expected to normalize throughout the remainder of the year 2016.