French luxury group Kering achieved a 36.5 % turnover increase in its first quarter as Gucci took full advantage of a 90’s revival among young consumers: the luxury brand is “hot” among teens and saw its turnover climb 48.7 %.
Puma, Volcom and Stella McCartney up for sale
Turnover reached 3.11 billion euro thanks to double-digit growth in every market. The Kering group mainly performed very well in North America (+ 54.3 % like-for-like growth) and in the Far East (region Asia-Pacific, + 42.2 %).
According to chairman François-Henri Pinault, the growth comes from the French label’s drive for innovation and creative spirit. Since the start of the year, Kering has indeed dared to sell a majority stake in sports brand Puma, has put skating brand Volcom up for sale and decided to turn its attention to a few luxury brands. It will also sell its 50 % stake in Stella McCartney.
Gucci conquers youngsters’ hearts
Kering’s like-for-like turnover grew 37 % in the past quarter, decidedly more than the 23 % analysts had forecast. Trendy youngers are smitten with the 90’s fashion sense, with large logos from brands like Calvin Klein, Champion and Gucci and the latter has definitely benefited from it.
Gucci’s online sales doubled in the past quarter, but its affiliate brands (Yves Saint Laurent, Balenciaga and Alexander McQueen have also registered double-digit online growth. It is a strong performance, forcing Pinault to dampen the full-year forecast: he points out that the company will need to deal with negative exchange rates and that last year’s excellent end to the year has also increased the bar for this year’s sales.
