Gucci reports drop in sales
Gucci's sales fell nearly 8% in the third quarter to $566 million while net income plummeted 51% to $56.3 million. The company blamed the results on the global economic slowdown and the drop in tourism following the September 11 terrorist attacks. Leather goods sales did slightly better than the overall figure, falling by just 2.6%. Ironically the leather side was boosted by sales of luggage, which increased by 29%.
The President of Gucci, Domenico De Sole, was upbeat about the results, claiming that the company was in a good position to exploit its dominant market position. "Difficult times will provide us with opportunities and we plan to take advantage of them," he said, "the weakness of our competitors will allow us to strengthen Gucci as well as our newly acquired brands and accelerate their development."
