Italian footwear producer, Geox S.p.A, has announced positive results for FY 2004 ended December 31. The results that have been approved by the board of directors, but are subject to final approval at the company’s shareholders’ meeting, showed that consolidated sales in the 12-month period reached €340.1 million, up by 34% from €254.1 million in 2003.

Footwear accounted for over 95% of consolidated sales, growing 33% compared with 2003. Italy, which remains Geox’s main market accounting for 55% of its footwear revenues, recorded a 17% sales growth. In the international markets, sales increased by 60%. “Geox shops” (franchising and DOS) sales grew significantly in 2004 and accounted for 23% of total footwear sales. At the end of December there were 278 “Geox shops”, of which 166 are in Italy . In 2004, the Group opened 80 “Geox shops”, 37 in Italy and 43 abroad, compared to 198 shops at year-end 2003.

Mario Moretti Polegato, chairman and founder of Geox, commented: “2004 was the year of Geox listing and IPO. This has represented an historical milestone for the company. The success of the IPO is to be attributed to the results that the Group has been able to deliver over the past years including 2004, when Geox confirmed strong growth in sales and a further improvement of all main profitability indexes. The order backlog for the 2005 Spring/Summer collection indicates a growth of approximately 30% as compared to the same period of 2004; this makes us confident in the Group’s ability to achieve in 2005 significant improvements in its financial results as compared to 2004.”

Geox footwear innovation, protected by 30 different patents registered in Italy and extended internationally, is fundamentally based on the design and creation of soles that, due to the insertion of a membrane permeable to vapour and waterproof, are able to guarantee breathability to rubber soles and permeability to leather soles.

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