The Metzingen-based fashion group Hugo Boss AG closed the first quarter of 2022 with a new sales record. As the company announced on Wednesday, revenues were not only increased significantly compared to the same period last year, which was characterized by the effects of the Covid 19 pandemic, but also compared to the corresponding pre-crisis level.
CEO Daniel Grieder was correspondingly pleased: The group, which was also able to increase earnings significantly, had started the current financial year “very well”, he explained in a statement. “Thanks to our successful brand renewal, the momentum of Boss and Hugo has accelerated worldwide. We want to use this strong momentum to achieve record sales in the current fiscal year,” said Grieder. The continued “consistent implementation” of the “Claim 5” reform program will also help here.
In the months from January to March, group sales amounted to 772 million euros. Compared to the prior-year quarter, this represented an improvement of 55 percent, and currency-adjusted revenue grew by 52 percent. The clothing supplier was thus well above the comparative level from before Corona: Compared to the first quarter of 2019, sales increased by 17 percent after currency adjustments.
Hugo Boss can grow strongly, especially in Europe and America
Recently, there has been an upward trend in two key regions in particular: In Europe, including the Middle East, quarterly sales grew by 69 percent compared to the same period last year to 505 million euros, in America they increased by 68 percent (currency-adjusted +56 percent) to 134 million euros. The development in the Asia-Pacific region was less dynamic: sales there increased by only nine percent (currency-adjusted +3 percent) to 110 million euros. During the quarter, “recurring Covid-19-related restrictions impacted consumer sentiment and visitor numbers in mainland China,” the company said.
In view of the strong growth, the management referred to its most recent strategic measures: “In the first quarter, Hugo Boss successfully implemented its comprehensive brand renewal, from new products to well-received marketing campaigns and the relaunch of its digital flagship hugoboss.com, thereby noticeably increasing relevance and perception of its brands,” it said in a statement. Sales in the Boss Menswear segment grew by 57 percent (currency-adjusted +53 percent) to 604 million euros and in the women’s fashion segment of the brand by 43 percent (currency-adjusted +41 percent) to 51 million euros. The Hugo label increased its revenues by 54 percent (currency-adjusted +42 percent) to 116 million euros.
The group is sticking to its annual forecasts
The group was also able to clearly improve its earnings. The company explained that higher freight costs were more than offset by a “lower discount intensity”, which led to a significant increase in the gross margin. The operating profit of 40 million euros was significantly higher than the level of the same quarter of the previous year, when it had only reached one million euros, despite a sharp increase in marketing expenses, higher personnel costs and investments in the digital business. The consolidated result attributable to the shareholders amounted to 24 million euros, after a loss of nine million euros had been posted in the first quarter of 2021.
In view of the figures available, the group confirmed its annual forecasts published in mid-March. For 2022, he expects sales to continue growing by 10 to 15 percent to a new record of between 3.1 and 3.2 billion euros. The target corridor for the consolidated result is between 150 and 180 million euros, after net profit had reached a level of 144 million euros last year.