After a better-than-expected third quarter, the Hugo Boss fashion group is raising its forecast for the current year for the second time. The demand for premium and luxury goods is thus further decoupled from a generally weakening consumer climate. Hugo Boss also sees no end to the buying mood after double-digit growth rates in the past three months.
“We got off to a very good start in the fourth quarter,” said CFO Yves Müller in a conference call on Thursday. There was no sign of a weakening in demand. The share lost almost three percent in the morning – according to Deutsche Bank, the prevailing analyst consensus RBC analyst Manjari Dhar noted that the fashion group performed better than expected in the third quarter and could even exceed the raised annual forecast thanks to the traditionally strong final quarter.
Sales are expected to increase by 25 to 30 percent in 2022
Despite these uncertainties, sales should increase by 25 to 30 percent to 3.5 to 3.6 billion euros in 2022, the company announced earlier in the morning in Metzingen. So far, Hugo Boss had expected a maximum of 3.5 billion euros. The group is thus taking big steps closer to its medium-term goal of four billion euros in sales. Nevertheless, Hugo Boss does not want to set any more ambitious goals at this point in time. It would be “premature” to adjust this forecast now, said CFO Müller.
Thanks to the expected higher turnover, the operating result (EBIT) is now expected to increase by 35 to 45 percent to between 310 million and 330 million euros in the current year. Here, too, management had previously promised the lower end of the range at best. Hugo Boss now sees consolidated earnings between 190 and 210 million euros, after previously announced 170 to 200 million euros. The company is reducing its investments with an expected 160 to 190 million euros. So far, 180 to 210 million euros should be put into the business.
In the third quarter, sales increased by 24 percent to 933 million euros. Adjusted for currency effects, the increase was 18 percent. All regions and sales channels were able to record double-digit growth rates. According to Müller, US retail continued to develop dynamically. The company benefited from its brand renewal program. The operating result increased by eight percent to 92 million euros. Higher costs had a slight impact on the gross margin. The bottom line is that Hugo Boss earned 58 million euros, ten percent more than in the previous year. (dpa)