SMCP has reported a “strong start to the year” with Q1 sales up 7.6% both as reported and in constancy currency, and up 8.7% organic, “driven by excellent momentum in France and a shift back to growth in APAC”.

The owner of the premium Sandro, Maje, Claudie Pierlot and Fursac labels said sales reached €304.6 million, helped by good like-for-like growth, despite a high basis of comparison.

It saw an “excellent performance in Europe”. And Asia was back to growth on the back of China’s gradual economic recovery after it loosened its pandemic restrictions. Meanwhile, “the trend in America is stabilising, supported by like-for-like positive growth in the US”.

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Looking at the figures in more detail, by brand, Sandro sales rose 8.9% to €146 million and increased 7.8% organic. Maje was up 1.5% at €113.8 million and up a narrow 0.4% organic. The remaining two brands saw a sales leap of 21.7% to €44.8 million, which included a 21.8% organic increase.

Regionally, sales in its domestic French market rose 13.1% to €93.7 million and sales in EMEA were up 6.6% at €88.6 million. They also rose 7% on an organic basis. In America, they were up 1% at €39 million, although they were down 2.5% on an organic basis. And in APAC, they rose 5.1% to €71 million and were up 2.7% organic.

In France, sales were mainly driven “by the performance of the like-for-like network and by the demand of local and tourist customers, who are increasingly numerous both in physical shops and on the brands' websites”. The company also continued to focus on full price in France (and elsewhere) and cut underperforming stores. 

In EMEA, the good performance of the largest markets, such as the United Arab Emirates, Italy and Spain, was partially offset by the end of the wholesale partnership in Russia (for which the last deliveries in February 2022). 

And in America, after an outstanding performance in 2022, sales are normalising with that 3% drop on an organic basis looking like nothing to worry about. The slightly unfavourable trend came from Canada where the normalisation of traffic was slower due to the low level of tourism from Asia and weak local demand.

Encouragingly in APAC, the trend gradually improved in Mainland China over the quarter with January and February still affected by low traffic, before returning to growth in March. 

The region benefited from a good performance in Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and Macau, new stores, and the integration of Australia and New Zealand into its own retail network. 

CEO Isabelle Guichot said: “We are particularly pleased with the strong momentum in France, the dynamism in Europe, the return to growth in Asia and the resilience of our sales in America after an excellent 2022. This quarter also saw the progress in the implementation of our ambitious CSR strategy with the acceleration of the full-traceability project rollout on brand collections, the launch of Sandro clothing rental in the UK and the launch of our SMCP Retail Lab training school. 

“We remain vigilant regarding the evolution of the macro-economic, social, and geopolitical context but are confident that the positive momentum will continue in the coming quarters and thus confirm our annual targets.”