SMCP, the owner of Sandro, Maje and Claudie Pierlot, reported a 9% sales rise in the first quarter, buoyed by business abroad, especially in the Asia-Pacific region.
Sales for the first three months of 2019 totaled 274.6 million euros, with growth coming from all regions except France. The country registered a 3.9% decline due to a challenging home market rattled by the yellow vest movement protest that’s resulted in a slowdown in tourism and lower consumer confidence.
On a constant-currency basis, company sales rose 7.2%.
Daniel Lalonde, SMCP’s chief executive officer, said first-quarter “sales are in line with our expectations, and we are particularly satisfied with our performance in APAC, which demonstrates the huge international potential of our brands and their ever-growing desirability.
“In France, we successfully pursued the optimization of our network, while investing in key stores’ renovation,” he continued. “Globally, we further developed our sales of accessories and successfully pursued our digital strategy, such as a new partnership with JD.com in Mainland China.”
The group generated 67.5 million euros in the Asia-Pacific region, with 32.3% growth. In the Europe, Middle East and Africa region, sales gains were 10.4% to 79.4 million euros, while in the Americas revenues rose 8.4% to 31.7 million euros. France registered sales of 96 million euros.
SMCP continued expanding its store network. During the past 12 months, its net openings reached 111 directly operated stores, including 55 openings in the Asia-Pacific region, 48 in EMEA and 11 in the Americas.
“Meanwhile in France, where the group has pursued the optimization of its network with three targeted net closings, SMCP continued to invest in new qualitative locations,” the group continued.
In the first quarter, SMCP opened eight directly operated stores.
All of the group’s brands posted positive growth, with Maje sales gaining 11.9%, Claudie Pierlot’s rising 10.9% and Sandro’s advancing 6.2%. SMCP said each of the brands rang up strong sales abroad, supported by a good start to their spring collections in all regions.
During the first three months of the year, SMCP noted solid progress in accessories, mostly driven by shoes at Sandro, which saw success of its Flame sneakers, all categories for Claudie Pierlot, and Maje’s momentum of the M family of bags.
Each of the brands grew their social media fan base, with 45% more followers for Sandro, 35% for Maje and 42% for Claudie Pierlot in the quarter.
Lalonde confirmed SMCP’s full-year guidance, which includes sales growth of between 9% and 11% on a constant-currency basis, and stable adjusted EBITDA margin compared to 2018.
This story was reported by WWD and originally appeared on WWD.com.
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