The first quarter of the year has not been amazing, but not so appalling either. From January to March 2019, Tod’s sales just reached 216.4 million euros. Therefore, they decreased by 4.3% at current rates of exchange and dropped by 5.7% at fixed rates of exchange, slightly below the average expectations of analysts, whose predicted outlook was 221 million euros. More specifically (at current rates of exchange): footwear -3.8%, leather goods and accessories -6.9%, apparel -4.9%. As for brands, Tod’s -11%, Hogan -3.1%, Roger Vivier +16.2%, Fay -6.4%. Retail sales enjoyed a boost by 9.2%, fostered and driven by the recent acquisition, carried out by Tod’s, of Italiantouch’s e-commerce unit; in contrast, such buyout undermined the wholesale channel, whose overall turnover dropped by around 22% on annual basis over the period. Diego Della Valle, president and managing director of the group headquartered in the Marche (in the picture by Imagoeconomica), pointed out: “The good news is that revenues coming from retail sales have been going up again: looking at that comforting message, our strategic choices prove to be appropriate, once again”. The entrepreneur also recalled the T Factory, No_Code project, along with the next store opening in Montenapoleone Street, Milan. “Not to miss our expected accomplishments, considering that business competitiveness is rather fierce at present, we absolutely need to enhance our investments, in order to make our products and brands more and more attractive and alluring. Therefore, we think we have been implementing a suitable and rewarding strategy; on top of that, we have to make things faster to get to our expected achievements”, remarked Della Valle. During a conference call, Emilio Macellari, Tod’s chief financial officer, announced: “We consider the current demand to be quite difficult in terms of revenues and profitability”. According to Reuters, it means that the group might hardly meet the market expectations throughout 2019: in addition, at the end of the first quarter comparable sales turned out to decrease by 2.5%. For the records, Macellari spoke about a “similar” trend in April and May as well.
Tod’s revenues keep going down: 216 million euros, -4.3%. Good news from Roger Vivier and direct retail: “Comforting messages”, says Della Valle
