U. S., Wholesale Business Boost Aeffe’s Q1 Sales

Moschino and Alberta Ferretti’s parent company is showing positive signs of recovery with the consolidated sales up 5.1 percent.

MILAN — Double-digit sales growth in Asia and in America, as well as costcutting strategies, enabled Aeffe, the parent company of Alberta Ferretti, Moschino, Philosophy di Lorenzo Serafini and Pollini, to report improved results on Thursday.

In the first quarter ended March

31, Aeffe’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization increased 64 percent to 14.1 million euros, compared to 8.6 million euros in the same period a year earlier.

Consolidated sales were up 5.1 percent to 80.08 million euros. At constant exchange, consolidated sales rose 5.2 percent compared to the first quarter of 2020. While ready-to-wear sales decreased 2.9 percent to 52.7 million euros, sales in the footwear and leather goods division spiked 17.1 percent to 35.9 million euros at constant exchange.

“A double-digit increase in sales, as well as the cost rationalization measures that we implemented in the second quarter of last year, as a response to the coronavirus outbreak, enabled the company to substantially increase its gross margins,” said Aeffe managing director and chief financial officer Marcello Tassinari. “Another important KPI is that in such a particular moment, our group is keeping its leadership by maintaining its level of debt constant.”

The group’s net profit fell 5 percent to 3.8 million compared to the same period last year, while its net financial debt declined 4.6 percent to 142.7 million euros after the accounting code IFRS

16, compared to the 149.6 million euros reported at the end of March 2020, thanks to effective management of working capital.

According to Tassinari, sales would have increased over 20 percent without the lockdowns that forced the company to shut many of its stores.

In particular, in the first quarter of the year, Aeffe’s retail business, which counts 57 stores and accounts for 15 percent of the group’s sales, declined 32.3 percent. Its losses were compensated by the positive performance of Aeffe’s wholesale channel, which posted a 16.9 percent increase.

“Our online business performed extremely well in the first quarter, especially in the United States, where the online showed positive growth rates,” said Tassinari, highlighting that the

U.S. market will be key for the further development of the company. Showcasing