Esprit sales flat

Reporting “flat” revenue for its third quarter, Hong Kong-listed clothing retailer Esprit Holdings points the finger at negative growth in its Asia Pacific stores, as well as weakness in its wholesale channel.

There was a marginal decline of 0.1 per cent in Esprit sales for the three months but the company continued to benefit from improved product performance, as well as improved marketing and channel operations.

Retail revenue (63.3 per cent of the group’s income) grew 3.1 per cent year-on-year, primarily driven by the European region.

Particularly encouraging for the group was the continuation of the positive trends in several areas. The women’s divisions (including Esprit and EDC branded products) had retail revenue growth of 6.6 per cent for the quarter; plus comparable stores sales growth (including online) was up 10.3 per cent; while online sales totalled HK$984 million (US$126.8 million) – 35.4 per cent of the group’s retail revenue and an increase of 11.7 per cent.

Performance, meanwhile, was still weak in Asia Pacific (15.2 per cent of the group’s revenue), with revenue tumbling 15.3 per cent.

Esprit says the performance of Asia Pacific continued to be undermined by a combination of unfavourable macro-factors, including volatility in the financial markets, weak consumer sentiment amid the slowdown of economic growth in China, and reduced tourist flow in the region.