Hilfiger, Beckham and Isabel Marant boost Safilo in Q3

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Nov 4, 2022

Italian eyewear giant Safilo said on Friday that Q3 marked another quarter of sales and profits growth with net sales up 14.9% to €226.6 million (or 4.6% at constant exchange rates) and the company seeing 5.6% organic growth. Meanwhile adjusted EBITDA was up 18.6% at €22.6 million.

The company added that sunglass sales continue to boost growth in Europe and in emerging markets with a 7.1% increase in the third quarter, thanks to a buoyant summer season. But it also saw solid prescription frames business in all key markets and continued profit and margin improvements, despite macro headwinds. 

Sales of Carrera and Polaroid continued to see “remarkable” double-digit growth, while the progress of Smith was “more moderate in the quarter due to some logistic delays in the shipment of sports products” in the US. 

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As for the licensed brands portfolio, Tommy Hilfiger, Hugo Boss, David Beckham, Under Armour and Isabel Marant were the other key drivers of the positive organic performance. Licenses for Carolina Herrera, Chiara Ferragni and Dsquared2, introduced this year into its portfolio, also added “significant new business”. 

Q3 also continued to see the significant return of consumers to stores, giving it “the opportunity to further advance the development and adoption of its B2B platforms, in particular in Europe, where the 'You&Safilo' business increased by approximately 40% compared to the same period of 2021”.

For the first nine months of the current financial year, net sales rose12.7% to €831.3 million with a 5.7% increase at constant exchange rates and a 9.9% organic rise. 

Gross profit rose 20.3% in the nine months to reach €458.4 million with a margin of 55.1% versus 51.7% a year earlier. Adjusted EBITDA was up 24% at €85.3 million. 

CEO Angelo Trocchia said: “Our [Q3] performance reflected the continued strength of Europe, Latin America and the Middle East markets, the first significant business rebound of Asia, and the North American market holding up versus another tough period of comparison and some logistic delays in the US.”