Calida Group expects to report lower sales

In a preliminary statement on the half-year results, Calida Group said that development of Erlich Textil since acquisition has been far below expectations.

Consequently, the company expects currency-adjusted sales and EBIT to be below the previous year's level.

The company has announced the appointments of Felix Sulzberger as interim executive chairman as of July 1, 2023, and Thomas Stöcklin as lead independent director. The company’s CEO Timo Schmidt-Eisenhart will be departing the company at the end of June 2023.

The company added that consumer sentiment remains very depressed in the current year in view of rising interest rates and partly high inflation as well as ongoing geopolitical uncertainties.

“The difficult general conditions have severely impacted the planned development of the start-up Erlich Textil acquired in February 2022. The development of sales has deteriorated to an extent that makes the continuation of Erlich Textil no longer strategically sensible for the Calida Group. The impairments totaling 23 to 25 million Swiss francs will be made on June 30, 2023 and Erlich Textil is reported as a discontinued operation,” the company said.

Against this background, the company will undertake an in-depth review of Accelerate 2026 growth strategy. Calida Group plans to target slight organic growth and an EBIT margin of 10 percent.