The French clothing group SMCP presented its results for the first quarter of 2026 on Tuesday. The overall sales of the parent company of the Sandro, Maje, Claudie Pierlot and Fursac brands remained stable, but the result was driven by the international markets. The French market, however, recorded a sharp decline.
The group’s sales amounted to 287 million euros, a slight decrease of 0.8 percent compared to the previous year. This apparent stability hides different developments in different geographical regions.
France lags behind while international markets drive growth
The French market was the only one that suffered losses. Sales there fell by 13 percent to 89 million euros. According to a statement from the group, this underperformance was caused by a “sluggish consumption environment” and “the downsizing of the branch network”.
SMCP closed 25 outlets in 2025. These were located in the Paris department store BHV and in branches of Galeries Lafayette in several regional cities, including Limoges, Dijon, Grenoble, Reims and Angers. The group justified this decision with unpaid invoices from SGM, the operator of BHV.
CEO Isabelle Guichot also explained that the decline was due to “a smaller contribution from the official January sales.” The group decided to limit discount promotions to protect its brand image.
Dynamics in America and Europe
In contrast, SMCP achieved robust results outside France:
America: +11.7 percent (44 million euros).
Europe (excluding France) and the Middle East: +4.9 percent (103 million euros). The group stated that this figure was “not influenced by the war in the Middle East” at this time. The delivery of the current spring-summer collections was completed before the conflict began.
Asia-Pacific: +2.6 percent (51 million euros).
Maje stands out
The results of the individual brands were different. Maje showed the strongest growth with a sales increase of five percent. Sandro saw a slight decline of 1.4 percent, while the division that includes Claudie Pierlot and Fursac saw a more significant drop of 15.1 percent.
“In the first quarter of 2026, the group demonstrated resilience in a difficult environment,” emphasized Guichot. She praised the “positive dynamics in most regions” and saw this as evidence of the “solidity of our model and the relevance of our implementation”.
SMCP is currently represented in 59 countries and operates a network of around 1,600 points of sale worldwide.
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