Fashion
Asos wants to raise more than 200 million pounds (230 million euros) with a new share issue, following the announcement of strong half-year figures. During the corona crisis, however, sales fell by almost 25 %.
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Ready-to-wear giants Primark and H&M promise continue to pay textile workers in Bangladesh, even though they are cancelling their orders because of the coronavirus crisis. They do so to support the badly affected country.
July is normally the dedicated sales period in Belgium, but 78 major players in fashion ask the government to intervene and enforce full prices in July. A sales period in August is necessary to save the sector from a flood of bankruptcies, they say.
In the first quarter of its financial year (up to 29 February), H&M doubled its profits and increased sales by 8 %. Good news then, until the coronavirus hit the world: in March, turnover was halved.
Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof has applied for creditor protection. The department store group has set in motion the German insolvency procedure, as Esprit did earlier.
As a result of the coronavirus crisis, Bangladesh risks losing almost six billion euros in export turnover. Millions of jobs are at risk as major retailers cancel their orders in the world's second largest clothing producer (after China).
Italian-French eyewear producer and retailer EssilorLuxottica and ready-to-wear holding company VF Corporation both have announced management changes. EssilorLuxottica CEO Laurent Vacherot retires, while the owner of Kipling and Eastpak welcomes new managers for both brands.
German fashion webshop Zalando has lowered its first-quarter forecast, as its sales have dropped significantly due to the measures implemented in many European countries in the fight against the coronavirus.
Esprit has requested, and obtained, protection against creditors for its German branch. The fashion retailer is particularly concerned about liquidity problems, as sales have plummeted as a result of the corona crisis.
German department store chain Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof is on the brink of collapse and is asking the German authorities for state aid in the form of emergency loans. So far, however, it has not had that much success.
Belgian fashion group FNG (Brantano, CKS, Miss Etam, Steps, ...) fears the coronavirus and its consequences will have a lasting impact on its activities. Not only have its stores closed completely, but now its online turnover is also decreasing.
An increasing number of online retailers (including British e-commerce giant Next) close their webshop because of the coronacrisis. Is this just a prelude for worse things to come?
The coronavirus, and a new strategy with fewer Latin-American wholesalers, have forced Nike third quarter net profit down by 23 % (December to February). Turnover did go up 5 %, but the sports retailer fears a steep decline in the next quarter.
Danish retailer Bestseller is laying off 750 people, Swedish giant H&M fears it will have to cut tens of thousands of jobs due to the coronavirus crisis.
One of the worst hit industries will be fashion, a Moody's report says. As stores are forced to close, the spring collection can not be sold and will be out of fashion by the time stores can open again. Moreover, some chains will not have generated enough cash in order to buy the autumnal collections.
Spanish fashion group Inditex (Zara) has had a good run in 2019, but is now bracing for the corona crisis. The fashion giant has set aside 287 million euros for future damages and has already closed 3,785 stores worldwide.
