Hermes profit drop

The luxury fashion house Hermes International SA has reported a full-year profit drop of 3.1 per cent. The company attributes the dip in profits to higher taxes and currency fluctuations. Hermes said that net profit totalled EUR 210.1 million (GBP 152.14 million) in 2004 compared with EUR 216.8 million in 2003.

Revenue for 2004 increased to EUR1.33 billion from EUR1.23 billion the year before. Hermes invested a total of EUR118 million into the company in 2004 and is planning on opening five new outlets in 2005 as well as renovating ten of its existing stores. Hermes added that it would undertake measures to increase its production capacity.

www.hermes.com