SMCP's Q1 sales decline by 20.4 percent

In the first quarter of 2020, SMCP, parent company of Sandro, Maje and Claudie Pierlot said, consolidated sales reached 228.7 million euros (250.6 million dollars), down 20.4 percent on an organic basis, while reported sales were down 16.7 percent, including a positive currency impact of 0.5 percent and De Fursac’s contribution of 3.7 percent. The company said in a statement that this performance reflected the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic, which resulted in extensive store closures in Asia from the end of January, and then in Europe and North America from mid-March, as well as the suspension of tourism.

Commenting on the report, Daniel Lalonde, SMCP’s CEO, stated: “Following a good start to the year, all regions have progressively been impacted by the lockdown measures due to the Covid-19 epidemic. The group has taken a large number of measures to mitigate the impact of the pandemic on its activity and balance sheet, reducing capital expenditure to the essential, reducing operating expenses, adjusting inventories and collections, securing liquidity position and fostering operations in e-commerce. Looking forward, although the pandemic will have a strong impact on our Q2 performance, the early signs of recovery in China are encouraging.”

Highlights of SMCP’s Q1 results

Over the last twelve months, SMCP net openings amounted to 77 directly operated stores (DOS), including 29 net openings in APAC, 38 in EMEA and 20 in the Americas. Meanwhile, the group has pursued the optimization of its network in France with 10 net closings of DOS and in Q1, SMCP closed six DOS globally, reflecting six store closures in France and a slowdown of international store openings.

In France and EMEA, the company’s sales were down 19.4 percent and 11.9 percent, respectively, while the group generated positive performance in digital in EMEA. In the Americas, sales were down 17.4 percent impacted by the Covid-19 epidemic. In APAC, sales were down 33.4 percent. In parallel, the company added, e-commerce channel, which remained open throughout the crisis, recorded strong results in mainland China, up 39 percent of sales growth in Q1 2020. In other regions, traffic remained weak in Hong-Kong and in Singapore where all stores are closed, while South Korea, Taiwan and New Zealand recorded better resilience in sales.

On an organic basis, Sandro sales were down 20.9 percent, Maje, down 20.5 percent and the Other Brands division recorded an 18.4 percent decline in sales, impacted by the Covid-19 epidemic.

Picture:Maje website