Dive Brief:
- Prada Group Q1 net revenue was 1.2 billion euros, or approximately $1.3 billion at current exchange rates, an 11% increase for the period, per a Wednesday earnings release.
- Miu Miu retail sales were up 89% year over year. The company said the brand’s “very positive” reception was driven by its fall-winter 2024 runway show, leather goods, promotional campaigns and a recent collaboration between New Balance and the Prada Group-owned Church’s brand.
- The Prada brand retail sales rose 7%, which the company credited to strong fall-winter 2024 runway presentations for menswear and womenswear, plus the popularity of the brand’s Buckle Bag, first introduced for spring-summer 2024.
Dive Insight:
While some luxury fashion companies, including Kering and LVMH, struggle with a challenging market, Prada Group joins competitor Zegna in an increasingly small pool of firms that have seen recent growth.
“Over the first quarter, we delivered a solid performance in a more challenging market environment,” Patrizio Bertelli, chairman and executive director, said in the release. “In this context, we have to maintain flexibility and agility to respond to constantly evolving industry dynamics while continuing to innovate and invest across our business, leveraging the strength of our reinforced organisation and the talent of our people.”
The company saw overall retail sales rise 12%, although wholesale dropped 1%. Growth was up in every region, including the Americas, where year-over-year retail sales rose 4% to 181 million euros. By comparison, Q4 retail sales there dropped 2% in fiscal 2023, although the company said in its March earnings release that the region had seen “a sequential improvement in Q4, supported by some repatriation of spending.”
Q1 retail sales in Japan continued on a growth trajectory from 2023, and were up 29% for the period to 145 million euros, which the company credited to sustained local interest and an increase in tourist spending. In the Asia Pacific region, the company’s largest, sales were up 10% to 396 million euros, which the company said was “notwithstanding the comparison with Q1-23, which marked the elimination of Covid-19 restrictions in the region.” Europe, the company’s second-biggest market, and the Middle East, the company’s smallest, saw sales growth of 14% each.
Andrea Guerra, Prada Group’s CEO, praised the company’s positive start in 2024.
“During the first quarter Prada experienced solid and above-market growth against a high quarterly basis of comparison; Miu Miu’s strong performance is a testament to the strategy and disciplined execution implemented over the past years,” Guerra said in the release. “We continue to progress in our journey towards retail excellence, enriching our product range and driving customer engagement to nurture our brands’ desirability. Sharpness of positioning, creativity and communication will be critical this year; while the industry is experiencing new dynamics, we retain our ambition to deliver solid, sustainable and above market growth.”
