The owner of the Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent and Bottega Veneta brands improves its net profit by 37%, to 3.17 billion euros. Its title flies away.
The luxury group Kering exceeded its pre-pandemic sales in 2021 and posted a profit also higher than that of 2019, results which make it “confident” for the coming year “and beyond”.
On the Paris Bourse, the Kering share climbed 6.20% to 671.80 euros in a market down 0.21% at 2:49 p.m.
After LVMH, which at the end of January displayed an insolent form with record sales and net profit, Kering, which notably owns the brands Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent and Bottega Veneta, published Thursday an annual turnover of 17.6 billion euros. euros up 11% compared to 2019 and a net profit of 3.17 billion euros exceeding that of 2019 by 37%.
Analysts polled by Factset and Bloomberg had expected sales to be slightly lower, at 17.145 billion and 17.048 billion euros respectively.
Current operating income of more than 5 billion euros shows a current operating margin of 28.4%. This margin passed the 30% mark for the first time in 2019.
“Our houses are stronger than ever and we are confident in the continuation of this dynamic in 2022 and beyond”, assures CEO François-Henri Pinault, quoted in the press release.
“All our houses are growing thanks to very intense activity in their own distribution networks, up 40% compared to 2020, supported by a very good recovery in all geographical areas”, confirmed the financial director Jean -Marc Duplaix during a conference call.
‘Very confident’ regarding Gucci’s potential
The group is benefiting from a general rebound in the luxury market which had been slowed by the pandemic and the restriction measures.
The group’s flagship brand, Gucci, which had experienced a third quarter hampered by the resurgence of Covid cases in Asia, returned to its pre-pandemic sales level at 9.7 billion euros thanks to a “strong acceleration in sales” in the fourth quarter, according to the release. The brand’s operating margin is 38.2%.
“We are very, very confident regarding Gucci’s potential”, declared François-Henri Pinault during the presentation of the results to the press, considering that “the house is a century old but it has all the characteristics of a young adult”.
“We are in a phase of expanding the house to high-end customers by offering much more high-end products, such as in the High Jewelry category launched in 2019”, he explained.
Yves Saint Laurent displays “exceptional performance”, according to the financial director, with 2.5 billion euros in sales. “A new record for the house whose size has increased sevenfold in ten years,” said Mr. Duplaix. The strong acceleration in sales continued in the 4th quarter. The brand’s current operating margin is 28.3%.
The Italian brand Bottega Veneta passes the 1.5 billion euros mark in sales and those of “other houses” reach 3.2 billion euros.
In this “other houses” section, the performances of Balenciaga and Alexander McQueen are described as “excellent” as are those of the jewelry brands. The CEO of the group notably underlined the success of its Chinese brand of jewelry Qeeling at the “indecent” growth rate. “We are probably the first luxury group to have succeeded in developing a Chinese luxury house in China. And the height that Qeeling has reached is very significant,” he added.
Kering separated in January from its watch brands, Ulysse Nardin, Girard-Perregaux and JeanRichard, minorities in its brand portfolio.
The group posted a free operating cash flow of 3.9 billion euros does not exclude acquisitions in the near future. It will propose a dividend of 12 euros per share to shareholders.
