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Moncler Group said sales were up 16 per cent year-on-year, to over €1.8 billion, in the first nine months of 2023, meeting analyst expectations. Shares fell 2.7 per cent after markets closed on Thursday.
By brand, Moncler revenues were up 19 per cent year-on-year at €1.5 billion. Stone Island revenues rose 2 per cent to €310.1 million.
“I am very pleased with the results achieved during the third quarter of the year, when both the Moncler and the Stone Island brands delivered robust double-digit growth in the core DTC channel, despite a continuously volatile operating environment,” CEO Remo Ruffini, who was not present on Thursday’s earnings call, said in the release.
Direct channels helped drive growth for both brands. Moncler’s direct sales through its stores and e-commerce site rose 28 per cent year-on-year, while wholesale fell 2 per cent. Due to Moncler’s specialisation in outerwear, the third quarter is the brand’s largest wholesale quarter of the year, Elena Mariani, strategic planning and investor relations director, flagged. Stone Island saw a DTC increase of 18 per cent year-on-year, while wholesale dipped 5 per cent.
By region, the US remained a challenge. In the Americas, the Moncler brand's revenues were down 14 per cent in the third quarter, whereas Stone Island’s fell 2 per cent. Consistent with previous quarters, the group attributes this dip to the conversion of Nordstrom from a wholesale to a hybrid business model and noted the same for part of Saks. “These conversions will boost DTC organic growth in quarters to come,” Bernstein’s Luca Solca said in his earnings notes. For Stone Island, Moncler Group attributes the slowdown to softer business trends and a more cautious approach from department stores.
Once again, the Moncler brand’s growth was driven by Asia — though growth slowed from last quarter. Asia revenues were up 29 per cent year-on-year, compared to last quarter’s 55 per cent lift. On this, Mariani said that this was driven not just by the Chinese mainland, but also Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan and Southeast Asia. It’s a positive given the tough comp, analysts noted. “China overall did quite well in Q3,” Luciano Santel, chief corporate and supply officer, said. “Chinese travellers are starting to travel,” he said, noting that they’re sticking to close-by markets such as Hong Kong, Macau and Japan. “The Chinese cluster in Q3 is up 50 per cent as compared to 2021,” he added.
Whereas Moncler’s growth was driven by Asia, Stone Island’s was driven primarily by EMEA and Japan. The latter’s strong performance helped to compensate for the brand’s weaker performance in the Korean market.
The group is also hoping for a cooldown, though flags it’s seen a positive response since releasing its winter collection this past summer. “The weather is not helping our business. It’s not helping any apparel business,” Santel says. “Of course, the most important part of the season is still to come. But we’ve already sold a lot of this collection.”
Beyond the weather, there’s a lot hanging on the upcoming weeks, Santel says. “Everything will depend on the next 10 to 11 weeks. These are, needless to say, the most important weeks for our business in the year.”
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