Esprit reports flat Q1 turnover

The board of directors of Esprit Holdings announcing its unaudited FY15/16 first quarter update said that the turnover was almost flat year-on-year with a marginal decline of 0.4 percent in local currency.

Retail turnover grew year-on-year by 9.1 percent in local currency, reversing the turnover decline of 10.1 percent in local currency of FY14/15. The company achieved a double-digit gain in productivity with year-on-year increase in retail comparable store sales of 10.8 percent in local currency.

The positive retail sales development in the first quarter was driven by the performance of Europe, particularly the women divisions. Retail sales in Germany and Rest of Europe, both reported double-digit growth in turnover of 10.7 percent and 13.6 percent in local currency respectively.

Retail turnover of Esprit Women divisions continued to see positive year-on-year performance and recorded a growth of 14.1 percent in local currency. Wholesale operations turnover declined year-on-year by 12.3 percent in local currency, which was in line with the corresponding decline in controlled wholesale space of 11.9 percent.

From a regional perspective, the overall sales performance in Europe, 85.9 percent of the group turnover, recovered to a slight increase of 0.1 percent in local currency with performance in Germany up 0.5 percent and Rest of Europe reporting a decline of 0.4 percent. Asia Pacific reported a decline of 3.6 percent in local currency. The company said that relatively weaker performance in Asia Pacific was mainly due to China, it observed dampened consumer sentiment affecting sales performance.