The French fashion group SMCP had to pay tribute to the adverse market conditions in the third quarter of the 2023 financial year.
The sales losses that the company announced on Thursday came as no surprise. The parent company of the Sandro, Maje, Claudie Pierlot and Fursac brands had already pointed out the declining demand in mid-September and lowered its annual forecasts.
In the period from July to September, group sales amounted to 294.9 million euros, missing the level of the same period last year by 4.4 percent. On an organic basis – i.e. adjusted for currency effects and changes in the Group portfolio – revenue fell by 2.0 percent.
All market regions are recording losses
The group of companies suffered losses in all market regions. Sales in France fell by 1.6 percent (organic -1.6 percent) to 97.5 million euros and in the EMEA region, which includes the rest of Europe as well as the Middle East and Africa, by 2.2 percent (organic -2.0 percent) to 96.5 million euros. In America, revenues fell by 12.9 percent (organically -6.5 percent) to 42.7 million euros, in the Asia-Pacific region by 5.6 percent (organically +1.2 percent) to 58.2 million euros.
Thanks to the growth in the first half of the year, group sales continued to be positive in the first nine months of the year. In the period from January to September it reached 904.7 million euros, exceeding the corresponding previous year’s level by 3.5 percent (organically +4.3 percent). Losses in America were more than offset by increases in the other regions.