Luxury goods group Kering saw its growth slow in the third quarter compared to the previous one, with its flagship brand Gucci marking time, while Yves Saint Laurent, Balenciaga and Alexander McQueen continued their strong growth.
The group’s turnover was €4.19 billion, up 12.6% on the same period in 2020.
Gucci, Kering’s flagship brand, saw sales rise by 3.8% in the third quarter, falling short of analysts’ expectations as the pace of recovery from the coronavirus pandemic slowed sharply after an exceptional second quarter, particularly in Asia.
The French group’s overall sales rose 12.2% on a like-for-like basis, which excludes the effect of acquisitions and currency fluctuations, slightly ahead of analysts’ consensus forecast of an 11% increase.
The group highlighted a strong performance in the US and improved sales in Western Europe, but said a resurgence of COVID-19 cases in late July and August had weighed on revenues in the key Asia-Pacific region.
Kering also referred to a “transition” quarter between two collections. “After the Ouverture collection, the quarter was marked by the successful introduction of the Diana bag, while the Aria collection has been gradually arriving in shops since the end of September,” the group said in a statement.
Yves Saint Laurent maintained strong growth in the third quarter. The house’s sales rose by 28.1% like-for-like year-on-year to 652.9 million euros. Compared to 2019, YSL’s sales are “accelerating sequentially” thanks in particular to strong demand in Asia, Kering said.
Bottega Veneta’s sales reached 363.4 million euros in the third quarter, up 8.9% on a like-for-like basis. The turnover of the other “houses”, which includes the fashion designer Balenciaga, the jewellers Boucheron and Pomellato and the watchmaker Ulysse Nardin, rose by 26% to 843.7 million euros. It benefited in particular from the return to growth of the watchmaking houses.
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