Italian fashion brand Prada has confirmed that it will make an intial public offering (IPO) before the end of the summer 2002. When floated, the luxury goods giant, which owns brands such as Church's and Jil Sander, is expected to be valued at 4-5 billion euros ($3.6-4.5bn).

The company also posted a sharp fall in full-year net profits to 24 million euros ($21.9m) from 94.2 million euros ($86m) in 2000. Sales did rise, however, up 5.4% to 1.7 billion euros ($1.5bn).

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