Crisis a memory for the luxury goods and fashion industries

By

Dominique Muret

Published
Oct 7, 2015

The economic crisis appears to be only a bad memory. "Given the positive rate of growth and consistently excellent EBITDA data recorded in the first six months of 2015, it seems the economic crisis has been weathered, and at any rate hasn't impacted the major groups."

These are the conclusions of a survey published by management consultancy company Pambianco, after sifting through the six-monthly figures of Italy's 15 leading fashion groups, as well as 10 others from Europe and 13 from the US, all of them listed on the Stock Exchange.

The fashion and luxury goods sector saw its sales jump 11.1% in the first six months of the year, reaching €97.7 billion, while EBITDA grew by 7.6% to €16.6 billion, equivalent to 17.5% of total revenues, compared to 17.9% in the first six months of 2014.

In the European ranking, which features 10 groups (it doesn’t include Burberry, Richemont and Mulberry, which have a different six-monthly closing of accounts), French giant LVMH is in the lead, followed by Spanish group Inditex, H&M from Sweden, German group Adidas, and its competitor Kering in fifth position.

The highest growth rates in terms of revenue for the period were recorded by Pandora (+39.1%), H&M (+23.1%), and Hermès (+20.6%).

On the US side, Gap leads the 13 groups surveyed, followed by VF Corp and Limited Brands. The best growth rates have been recorded by G III (+14.8%), Hanesbrands (+13.7%), and Kate Spade (+9.6%).

Finally, the 15 Italian companies analysed were dominated by eyewear manufacturer Luxottica, whose sales leapt up by a significant 19.6% in the first six months of the year. Among the most remarkable rates of growth, those by Moncler (+35.5%) and Italia Independent (+34.7%).