The fashion group Prada SpA presented strong results for the first half of the 2022 financial year on Thursday. Although the temporary tightening of the Covid-19 protective measures impacted business in China, the company managed to achieve a high increase in sales. The profit was almost twice as high as in the same period last year.
In the first six months of the current year, group sales amounted to 1.90 billion euros. It thus exceeded the corresponding prior-year level by 26.6 percent. Adjusted for exchange rate changes, revenues increased by 22.5 percent. The engine of growth was the company’s own retail business, with a currency-adjusted increase of 26 percent to 1.68 billion euros. In the wholesale business, currency-adjusted revenues fell by three percent to EUR 194 million due to a more selective sales strategy, while license income increased by currency-adjusted 22 percent to EUR 29 million.
The company achieved the strongest growth in Europe, where currency-adjusted sales improved by 89 percent to EUR 486 million. In the Americas, currency-adjusted sales rose 41 percent to 360 million euros, in Japan by 28 percent to 161 million euros and in the Middle East by 24 percent to 80 million euros. On the other hand, the Asia-Pacific region declined. Currency-adjusted sales there shrank by seven percent to 590 million euros due to the pandemic-related restrictions in China.
Thanks to higher margins, the group was able to almost double its profit compared to the first half of the previous year. The operating result (EBIT) adjusted for special effects grew by 99 percent to 331 million euros, the net profit attributable to the shareholders increased by 94 percent and reached a level of 188 million euros.