Salvatore Ferragamo Performance Dented By Hong Kong Tensions
● Ceo Micaela Le Divelec Lemmi said the “magnitude” of the events in the market could not be anticipated.
MILAN — Hong Kong was a sore spot for the Salvatore Ferragamo Group in the nine months, hurt by a 45 percent drop in retail sales in the region in the third quarter, but the performance in the period was lifted by other areas including Europe.
“We were not anticipating what is happening in the market [would have] this magnitude,” said chief executive officer Micaela Le Divelec Lemmi during a call with analysts on Tuesday. Hong Kong suffered “a big hit” at retail, due to the tensions there, but Latin America is also suffering, hurt by political unrest, and the wholesale channel went through a downward trend, she continued. “The performance is not consistent around the world and the overall results are mixed in different channels and markets. We are fine-tuning the strategy but it will not change in essence.” This will also include “not overinvesting” or new initiatives in Hong Kong, as the group considers how to increase traffic. “We see a decrease of Mainland Chinese in Hong Kong but we start to see them in other regions. They are back in European capitals, there are signals from Korea, but we cannot anticipate a destination in the mid-term.” Chief financial officer Alessandro Corsi echoed that sentiment saying that he was “not able to predict where we can see a full compensation of the Chinese cluster we lost in Hong Kong.”
Excluding the IFRS 16 accounting principle, net profit in the nine months ended Sept. 30, including a minority interest, was stable at 65 million euros, edging down 0.5 percent compared with the same period last year.
Revenues were up 2.3 percent to
994.3 million euros, compared with
972 million euros in the same period last year. In the third quarter, revenues were down 2.9 percent.
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization decreased 1.5 percent to 147 million euros. Operating profit was down
5.7 percent to 96 million euros.
As of Sept. 30. the group’s retail network counted a total of 656 points of sales, including 394 directly operated stores and 262 third-party-operated stores.
In the nine months, the retail distribution channel was up 2.6 percent to 643.3 million euros, accounting for 64.7 percent of the total. The third quarter was stable, up 0.4 percent.
Like- for- like sales in the nine months grew 1.4 percent but were down 0.7 percent in the third quarter, hit by a negative performance of the secondary channel.
The wholesale channel grew 3 percent in the nine months to 338.7 million euros, but was down 8.4 percent in the third quarter, due to a different timing in the deliveries of fragrances and to a slowdown of the travel retail channel mainly linked to the geopolitical tensions in Hong Kong.
The Asia Pacific area was confirmed as the group’s top market, up 2.7 percent to 373 million euros, accounting for 37.5 percent of sales. In the nine months, the retail channel in China reported a 16.3 percent increase. In the third quarter, the performance in the area was significantly negatively impacted by Hong Kong, where retail sales were down 45 percent compared with the third quarter last year. Hong Kong represents 6 to 7 percent of total revenues, said Corsi. Macau also suffered, down 16 percent, he said, but it is “less negative now,” as is Taiwan.
In the nine months, the Europe, Middle East and Africa region posted a 3.9 percent increase to 258.7 million euros, representing 26 percent of the total, lifted by both distribution channels also in the third quarter. “There is a return of Americans and Russians” in the region, said Corsi.
North America in the nine months was down 1.3 percent to 219.7 million euros, representing 22.1 percent of total sales, and penalized by lower revenues from rentals and a negative performance of the wholesale channel in the third quarter. “The primary channel performed in a positive way,” said Le Divelec Lemmi. “The U.S. is not consistent completely across the regions and we can anticipate a potential upset following the issues with Barneys.” In the market, Ferragamo is pushing full price sales and reducing markdowns, she said.
The Japanese market edged up
0.9 percent to 87.1 million euros in the nine months.
Revenues in Central and South America increased 9.7 percent to 55.7 million euros, despite a slowdown in the third quarter due to social and political tensions.
Sales of shoes were up 3.5 percent to 419.9 million euros, representing 42.3 percent of total. Handbags and leather accessories grew 4.7 percent to 392.3 million euros, accounting for 39.5 percent of total sales. Le Divelec Lemmi said the Studio Bag was a best-seller and that women’s shoes were benefiting from the introduction of the family of the Vara and the Viva models.
For the year 2020, the executive said the marketing strategy will focus on core categories, especially ladies’ shoes, and she ticked off the new Viva shoes, for which the company is planning “a strong push beginning next year.”
Fragrances were down 9.7 percent to 60 million euros, with the third quarter showing a 35.2 percent decrease penalized by a different timing in the deliveries compared to the same period last year.
In the nine months the gross profit was up 4.2 percent to 64 million euros. Its incidence on revenues was up 120 basis points, moving to 64.8 percent mainly thanks to the increase of full-price sales and to the positive product mix.
Operating costs, net of the IFRS effect, increased by 6.2 percent to 548 million euros, mainly due to marketing and communication costs, to the reinforcement of the organization, the increase in rentals and other operating costs.
Given the complexities of the market, the company said the slowdown in revenues and operating margins seen in the third quarter of the year
“may persist also in the last part of
2019.” Asked about the 2019 consensus, Corsi said that he could expect sales slightly above last year and that an EBITDA of 200 million euros, excluding the IFRS effect, was reasonable.