The Business of Fashion
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
Sales at fashion group Tod’s fell by almost a third in 2020 after its revenues in the fourth quarter of the year were hit hard by the resurgence of the Covid-19 epidemic in Europe and the United States.
Strong growth in China and in online sales in the fourth quarter failed to offset the fallout from the new lockdown measures as well as a lack of tourists in Western countries.
Total sales decreased by 22.6 percent in the fourth quarter after a smaller decline of 12.3 percent in the previous one, the Italian luxury leather goods maker said on Wednesday.
Tod’s, famous for its Gommino loafers, launched a new strategy in late 2017 to revamp its brands and lure younger consumers, but the pandemic has hampered its efforts.
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“Our primary goal is to consolidate our communication strategy, particularly the digital one. We are well advanced; when the markets return to normal, we will be ready to begin a lasting growth cycle,” Tod’s founder and top shareholder Diego Della Valle said in a statement.
Full-year revenues dropped by 30.4 percent to 637.2 million euros ($771.08 million) at current exchange rates, marking the fifth year in a row that annual sales have fallen. The decline is in line with a company-provided consensus of 636 millions euros.
Tod’s also said it had signed last week a credit agreement with a pool of banks for up to 500 million euros “to further strengthen the already solid group’s financial structure and mitigate the risk profile deriving from the current market situation”.
By Claudia Cristoferi; editor: Jane Merriman
The group’s flagship Prada brand grew more slowly but remained resilient in the face of a sector-wide slowdown, with retail sales up 7 percent.
The guidance was issued as the French group released first-quarter sales that confirmed forecasts for a slowdown. Weak demand in China and poor performance at flagship Gucci are weighing on the group.
Consumers face less, not more, choice if handbag brands can't scale up to compete with LVMH, argues Andrea Felsted.
As the French luxury group attempts to get back on track, investors, former insiders and industry observers say the group needs a far more drastic overhaul than it has planned, reports Bloomberg.