The German fashion group Hugo Boss AG had to accept a slight decline in sales in the second quarter of the 2025 financial year. However, due to cost reductions, the profit rose significantly. Overall, the company was able to exceed the market expectations with its results presented on Tuesday.
In the months of April to June, the group sales were 1.00 billion euros. He fell by one percent compared to the previous year. Adjusted to change course changes, the proceeds rose by one percent.
The weak demand in China puts a strain on sales development
It went up in the EMEA region, which includes Europe, the Middle East and Africa. There, the turnover reached a height of 618 million euros and thus exceeded the corresponding level of the previous year by two percent (disabilities +3 percent).
In America, the proceeds decreased by six percent to 236 million euros, but they rose by two percent. Due to the “persistently weak demand” in China, sales in the Asian -Pacific area decreased by eight percent (currency -adjusted -5 percent) to 124 million euros. The global license revenues decreased by nine percent (currency -adjusted -9 percent) to 24 million euros.
Cost reductions inspire the profit
In the result, the clothing provider made further progress in the second quarter because he kept the gross margin stable and, thanks to “continuously strict cost discipline and additional efficiency increases in important business areas”, could reduce the operational expenses.
The result before interest and taxes (EBIT) rose 15 percent to 81 million euros. The net profit due to the shareholders amounted to 47 million euros and thus exceeded the level of the previous year’s quarter by 27 percent.
CEO Daniel Grieder was satisfied with the results presented in view of the adverse framework. “The second quarter of 2025 was once again characterized by a challenging macroeconomic and industry -specific environment, in which global consumer confidence remained at a low level,” he emphasized in a statement. “Against this background, we were able to achieve solid improvements in sales and results, supported by further efficiency increases thanks to strict and sustainable cost discipline. It is crucial that we unchanged our long -term claim to strengthen the relevance of our brands instead of focusing on short -term profits.”
Management confirms its annual forecasts
In the entire first half of the group, the group sales fell by one percent to 2.00 billion euros, and was practically unchanged currency. The net profit attributable to the shareholder grew by nine percent to 82 million euros.
In view of the current figures, management confirmed the existing annual forecasts. For 2025, it continues to expect sales development from -2 to +2 percent compared to the previous year. The group sales should therefore be in the range of 4.2 to 4.4 million euros. At EBIT, which had reached a height of 361 million euros in 2024, an increase to 380 to 440 million euros is forecast. The EBIT margin is to be improved from 8.4 percent to 9.0 to 10.0 percent.