Hugo Boss performs very well in second quarter

Europe is fastest grower

In the second quarter, Hugo Boss managed a 647 million euro turnover, which is 16 % better than in the same time frame last year. It is even a lot better than its first quarter performance, when growth “merely” reached 9 %. Excluding favourable exchange rate fluctuations, growth reached 7 % (compared to 3 % in the first quarter). Both its men’s and women’s collections moved forward, respectively + 7 and + 5 % in local currency.

The growth spurt is mostly because of its European activities (up 7 % before exchange rate fluctuations, to 363.3 million euro), with the UK in particular doing well with double-digit growth. Hugo Boss’ Australian and Japanese turnover also grew more than 10 %, with only the United States lagging behind, up merely 1 %.

HugoBoss.com’s relaunch is big hit

Considering the first 6 months, its own retail branch managed a 9 % turnover growth and pushed the German fashion concern forward, like it has done in the past. On a like-for-like basis, the growth reached 5 %. Hugo Boss opened 47 stores since the start of the year, up to 1,088 in total. The remainder of the company’s growth comes from its online performance, thanks to the relaunch of its own web shop: Hugo Boss’ sales went up 23 % in the first 6 months compared to the same period last year.

Hugo Boss’ wholesale branch dropped 2 % in local currency, although it has to be said that the company acquired several stores from its customers over the past few months.

Its gross profit margin remained stable at 66 %, despite the increased market share of its own retail activities. That positive effect was cancelled out by larger discounts and stock write-offs. The group has now confirmed its full-year growth forecast and is focused on a “mid-single-digit rate”, which means around 5 %.