Gucci Sees Profit Rise in Second Quarter

Luxury group Gucci expects a "huge improvement" in profitability in the second half of its financial year compared to a year ago, Chief Executive Domenico De Sole told Reuters on Wednesday.

But he added it was too early to say whether the full-year profit would beat last year's because much depended on the important Christmas gift-giving period.

The expected profit rise is due to high margins at the main Gucci brand where sales have picked up strongly recently.

Gucci revealed earlier on Wednesday that its second quarter net profit almost halved to 22.7 million euros ($26.43 million) from 42.8 million a year ago, But the figure was way above the first quarter's 1.2 million.