France's Interparfums sees slight recovery in third quarter

By

Sarah Ahssen

Published
Oct 31, 2020

Having seen its second-quarter revenues decline 68% to 35.5 million euros, largely due to the temporary closure of stores in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, France's Inter Parfums S.A. (Interparfums) has reported a notable recovery in the third quarter. From July to September, the fragrance license specialist, which is controlled by New York-based Inter Parfums, Inc., achieved revenues of 111 million euros, down 14% at current exchange rates. According to the group, the gradual recovery that it has experienced since the start of July has been spread across all the regions in which the company has operations, but has been especially strong in Asia, France and the United States. 

"With the pace of orders picking up in early July, sales for the quarter considerably outperformed our most recent estimates. This good performance enables us to raise our guidance and, taking into account the traditional slowdown in the fourth quarter, we are now expecting sales for the 2020 full year of around €320-€330 million. However, given the absence of visibility, it would be difficult to extrapolate the outlook for 2021 from this positive trend," explained Interparfums chairman and CEO Philippe Benacin in a release. This statement was, however, made before the announcement of further confinement measures, which take effect in France on October 30 and will once again mean the closure of non-essential stores. 

During the period, sales at Montblanc, the biggest brand in Interparfums' portfolio, fell 16% to 31.4 million euros, while Jimmy Choo and Lanvin saw declines of 34% and 3%, respectively. Coach, on the other hand, was the only brand to experience growth, posting a 3% increase in its sales, which totaled 23.3 million euros, driven by the launch of a new line at the start of the year. 

Breaking the company's results down by region, only Asia saw revenue growth, posting sales of 18.6 million euros, up 29% compared to the prior-year period. Nonetheless, although Western Europe saw revenues decline 16% to 23.6 million euros, sales in France increased 12%. 

According to EVP and CFO Philippe Santi, "the rebound of sales in the second half will permit us to achieve a satisfactory level of profitability while continuing to invest significantly in marketing and communications."

In the first nine months of the year, the company's revenues totaled 250 million euros, decreasing 32%, both in current and constant currencies.