Hugo Boss hails strong Q3, casualwear booms, but formalwear grows too

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Nov 4, 2021

German fashion giant Hugo Boss said on Wednesday that it saw strong growth in Q3. Currency-adjusted group sales actually leapt 40% year-on-year to €755 million and were also 7% above 2019 levels.

That came as it saw its “momentum in Europe and the Americas” accelerating and this was clear from the fact that sales were up 9% and 14%, respectively, on a two-year comparison.

And the strong growth in its own online business continued with sales here soaring 127% against Q3 2019.

It all resulted in EBIT 3% higher than two years ago at €85 million. And the FY21 full-year outlook includes currency-adjusted group sales up by around 40% year-on-year and EBIT between €175 million and €200 million.

The company said that the latest quarter was helped by a global store opening rate of around 95%, as well as a “meaningful uplift in consumer sentiment” in Europe and the Americas. But while Europe and the Americas proved buoyant, in Asia/Pacific, renewed Covid-related restrictions – including temporary store closures – weighed on consumer sentiment in various markets. As a result, revenues remained 1% below the prior-year level and 14% below that of 2019.

The group also “successfully executed several key brand, product, and sales initiatives as part of its CLAIM 5 strategy, thereby driving brand relevancy for Boss and Hugo and leveraging global business opportunities”.

Particularly important was that its strength in casualwear continued with sales up in double-digits versus 2019.

By brand, both Boss and Hugo posted “strong double-digit growth” in the third quarter with currency-adjusted sales up 38% and 51% against the prior-year period. 

And as well as their casualwear proving strong, the brands’ formalwear offerings “picked up noticeably in the third quarter, reflecting the reoccurrence of social events over the summer”.