A difficult fourth quarter strikes Wolford

By

Anaïs Lerévérend

Published
Jun 17, 2013

Premium hosiery brand Wolford has just released preliminary full year figures for its financial year ended April 30, announcing a slight increase in revenue of 1.6% to156.6 million euros.

Coming in below forecasted expectations, the Austrian company’s final quarter seems have been the culprit for such weak sales. Sales in the first half actually grew by 4% and the company’s third quarter remained stable. Though the brand is yet to publish the information, it stands to reason that the company encountered problems during its fourth quarter.

Though poor performance is an industry-wide problem, shareholders will have a second nasty surprise when it comes to profit: earnings before tax and interest are in the red, with losses estimated at 900,000 euros. For the previous year, EBIT was at almost 7 million euros.

Wholesale at the brand is down 5% while retail saw a progression on 6% this year. Industry conditions in Europe have also worn heavy on the brand, which does 76% of its business on the continent and therefore suffered from poor sales in Southern Europe. Wolford is putting losses down to recent investments in China and costs related to the closing of several stores in the United States and Europe. The full-year report will be published on July 19.