On Wednesday, French children's and maternity wear specialist Orchestra-Prémaman published a revenue result of €154.1 million, up 3.7%, for the first quarter of its non-standard fiscal year 2017-18.

Sales in France for the period from March to May 2017 were worth €94.8 million, equivalent to a 4.4% rise, stated the group in a press release. The increase was driven by the results of the childcare division (+30.9%), while apparel remained stable (+0.4%).

Outside France, revenue rose by 2.6%. "The business was negatively affected by the change in commercial partner that is under way in Saudi Arabia," wrote the group.

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In the course of the quarter, Orchestra's overall market share has grown, thanks to the increase in the Orchestra monobrand stores' retail area, and the strong performance of the childcare business.

"Orchestra-Prémaman, whose priority is improving profitability, is sticking to the strategy of growing the number of large franchised stores, able to bring together under the same roof the childrenswear, maternity and childcare categories."

The group also indicated that the latter format now accounts for more than half of the total retail area of its monobrand stores.

Orchestra further noted that "it continues to work on finalising the merger with Destination Maternity," a US specialist in maternity wear.