Minneapolis, Minn. – Arctic Cat is going into the snowmobile season on a positive note reporting a 17% increase in earnings to a record $25 million for the second quarter of fiscal 2013.

The company’s net sales grew 12% for the quarter to $229 million vs. $204.8 million for the same quarter last year. Higher operational efficiencies and cost controls helped enhance profitability.

“We are beginning to benefit from our growth strategy to enter new market segments,” said Claude Jordan, Arctic Cat’s president and chief executive officer.

Snowmobile sales rose 12% to $128.6 million up from $114.7 million in the prior year’s quarter. For the first six months sales grew 11% to $146.6 million from $132 million in the period last year.

Sales of ATVs rose 19% to $69.6 million from $58.8 million in the quarter. The increase was primarily due to strong global demand from dealers and customers for ROVs like the new Wildcat and Prowler side-by-sides.

Cat said its parts, garments and accessories sales declined 2% to $30.8 million from $31.4 million for the same period last year. Sales of Wildcat accessories and parts grew in the quarter, snowmobile garment sales were down compared to the previous year’s quarter. For the six month period PG&A sales are about even.

Arctic Cat said it anticipates 2013 fiscal year sales in the range of $664 million to $684 million. This would be an increase of 13% to 17% from fiscal 2012.