Italian luxury goods brands optimistic for 2012
Ermenegildo Zegna and Raffaele Caruso are among Italian luxury goods makers that say they are optimistic for 2012, according to Bloomberg.
Suitmaker Zegna anticipates high single-digit percentage revenue growth, led by customers from outside Europe, after record sales and profit in 2011, said the company’s chief executive officer. Caruso, which makes menswear for brands including Christian Dior, expects sales to rise 20% in 2012 based on current orders, according to CEO Umberto Angeloni.
“Asia will be the real growth propeller, followed by the US,” Zegna told Bloomberg before the company’s autumn-winter 2012/2013 menswear show in Milan.
Thomas Mesmin, an analyst at CA Cheuvreux, estimates that the luxury goods sector will expand 10% in 2012, or half last year’s rate, excluding currency moves and acquisitions. Sales will rise 20% in Asia, excluding Japan, 6% in the US, 5% in Europe and 2.5% in Japan, he said.
