COLM

What You Should Know

Columbia Sportswear Company is a publicly-traded designer, marketer, and distributor of outdoor and active lifestyle apparel, footwear, accessories, and equipment under the Columbia, SOREL, Mountain Hardwear, and prAna brands, sold through wholesale, direct-to-consumer, and digital channels worldwide. Designing and selling outdoor apparel and footwear is a permissible activity at the activity level under standard Sharia methodology; Columbia earns product revenue rather than interest. The company is notable for operating with essentially no interest-bearing debt and a substantial cash and short-term investments position, so it comfortably passes the debt-to-market-cap screen; the primary financial-screen consideration is the interest income generated by that cash, a small portion of which should be purified. Subject to verifying ratios at the time of investment, most major Sharia advisory boards classify Columbia as permissible with purification of small interest-income components.