Kering Boosted by Chinese-Tourist Surge
October 22 2015 - 12:50PM
Dow Jones News
PARIS—Luxury group Kering SA said its third-quarter revenue
increased 12% to €2.9 billion as sales were boosted by a "surge" of
Chinese tourist shoppers in Western Europe and Japan.
Kering, which owns a portfolio of brands including Gucci,
Bottega Veneta and Yves Saint Laurent, said sales in Europe rose
29% while revenues in Japan jumped 26% as Chinese shoppers flocked
to those regions, encouraged by currency fluctuations and changing
travel trends.
Kering sales were significantly boosted by the low euro as sales
abroad translate higher when converted back to local currency.
Organic revenue growth, which strips out the effect of fluctuating
exchange rates, was a more modest 3.1%.
Sales at Gucci, which makes up about one-third of total group
revenue, were up 8.6% in the third quarter from the year-earlier
period to €924.1 million. However, when stripping out the effects
of currency fluctuations, sales were down 0.4%.
The brand, whose popularity has waned in recent years, hired
designer Alessandro Michele earlier this year to breathe new life
into the label. His new designs, which received positive reviews
from the runways, have only just hit the stores and haven't yet
impacted sales yet, Kering said.
Meanwhile, Yves Saint Laurent continued its meteoric rise under
the watch of designer Hedi Slimane, with quarterly sales jumping
36.9% to 243.4 million. The brand, the third-most important in the
luxury group after Gucci and Bottega Veneta, enjoyed "exceptional"
growth in all regions, the company said.
Write to Jason Chow at jason.chow@wsj.com
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 22, 2015 12:35 ET (16:35 GMT)
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