Gucci sales for the fourth quarter last year surged past levels not seen since before the COVID-19 pandemic, as luxury group Kering SA’s biggest brand drew shoppers to its latest ready-to-wear collection.
Comparable revenue at Gucci rose 32 percent to 3.07 billion euros (US$3.49 billion) in the period from the year before, Paris-based Kering said in a statement yesterday. Analysts had expected growth of 18 percent.
The release in September last year of Gucci’s Aria collection helped generate buzz and sales, while the film House of Gucci, starring Lady Gaga, drew more attention to the brand.
Photo: AP
Led by CEO Marco Bizzarri and creative director Alessandro Michele, Gucci represents more than half of Kering’s revenue and close to three-quarters of recurring operating income.
The company was also helped by the performance of Yves Saint Laurent, where revenue soared 47 percent during the quarter, outperforming all the group’s other major brands.
“We are confident we will extend last year’s momentum in 2022 and in coming years,” Kering CEO Francois-Henri Pinault said in the statement.
Kering’s results provide the latest evidence that luxury sales are storming back from the pandemic, as well-heeled shoppers crowd back into stores in much of the world. Rival LVMH SE last month reported record annual revenue, helped by surging demand for Louis Vuitton bags and Tiffany rings.
Analysts are also focusing on pricing power at luxury houses, with Chanel and other names increasing prices, citing inflationary pressures. In a call with reporters, Kering chief financial officer Jean-Marc Duplaix said he expected more targeted price hikes for Gucci this year.
Kering’s recurring operating income for the year rose 60 percent to 5.02 billion euros, surpassing analysts’ 4.77 billion euros estimate.
Separately, online grocery services provider Ocado Group PLC said that it plans to extend its partnership with French firm Casino Guichard-Perrachon SA.
The companies signed a preliminary agreement to create a logistics joint venture in France that would be available for use by all grocery retailers in that market, Ocado said yesterday.
Casino will also use Ocado’s software to run its Monoprix in-store fulfillment operation, and Ocado is to integrate the Octopia online platform onto its systems.
Additional reporting by Bloomberg
‘SWASTICAR’: Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s close association with Donald Trump has prompted opponents to brand him a ‘Nazi’ and resulted in a dramatic drop in sales Demonstrators descended on Tesla Inc dealerships across the US, and in Europe and Canada on Saturday to protest company chief Elon Musk, who has amassed extraordinary power as a top adviser to US President Donald Trump. Waving signs with messages such as “Musk is stealing our money” and “Reclaim our country,” the protests largely took place peacefully following fiery episodes of vandalism on Tesla vehicles, dealerships and other facilities in recent weeks that US officials have denounced as terrorism. Hundreds rallied on Saturday outside the Tesla dealership in Manhattan. Some blasted Musk, the world’s richest man, while others demanded the shuttering of his
Taiwan’s official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) last month rose 0.2 percentage points to 54.2, in a second consecutive month of expansion, thanks to front-loading demand intended to avoid potential US tariff hikes, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. While short-term demand appeared robust, uncertainties rose due to US President Donald Trump’s unpredictable trade policy, CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s economy this year would be characterized by high-level fluctuations and the volatility would be wilder than most expect, Lien said Demand for electronics, particularly semiconductors, continues to benefit from US technology giants’ effort
ADVERSARIES: The new list includes 11 entities in China and one in Taiwan, which is a local branch of Chinese cloud computing firm Inspur Group The US added dozens of entities to a trade blacklist on Tuesday, the US Department of Commerce said, in part to disrupt Beijing’s artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced computing capabilities. The action affects 80 entities from countries including China, the United Arab Emirates and Iran, with the commerce department citing their “activities contrary to US national security and foreign policy.” Those added to the “entity list” are restricted from obtaining US items and technologies without government authorization. “We will not allow adversaries to exploit American technology to bolster their own militaries and threaten American lives,” US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick said. The entities
Minister of Finance Chuang Tsui-yun (莊翠雲) yesterday told lawmakers that she “would not speculate,” but a “response plan” has been prepared in case Taiwan is targeted by US President Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariffs, which are to be announced on Wednesday next week. The Trump administration, including US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, has said that much of the proposed reciprocal tariffs would focus on the 15 countries that have the highest trade surpluses with the US. Bessent has referred to those countries as the “dirty 15,” but has not named them. Last year, Taiwan’s US$73.9 billion trade surplus with the US
RSS