Sales fall at PPR
PPR posted sales of EUR 13.8 billion for the nine months to September 30, down 6.6%. Sales fell 8% during the third quarter to EUR 4.6 billion.
Gucci group sales fell 5.9% during the nine-month period and 10% during the third quarter. According to the company, sales in directly operated stores posted robust performances, but wholesale sales suffered. Fashion and leathergoods sales fell 9% during the quarter.
The Gucci group’s performance was mixed: sales in emerging countries, which accounted for 32% of the group’s sales during the quarter, posted strong growth (+10%). Sales for Asia-Pacific excluding Japan rose 25%, driven by outstanding growth in Greater China (+37%). In the more traditional markets, sales were down 17%, affected particularly badly by a drop in the number of Eastern European and Middle Eastern tourists. The Gucci Group network comprised 596 stores at the end of September, including 38 in China.
François-Henri Pinault, chairman and chief executive officer at PPR, said: "PPR faced the convergence in the third quarter of 2009 of several unfavourable factors - a lacklustre macroeconomic environment, a high base of comparison in most of our businesses and, in luxury goods, a drop in tourism flows and a low point in wholesale activity.”
