Revenue at Kering’s fashion and leather goods, including Gucci, was down 3%. “Excluding Gucci, the segment grew by 2% in retail with Saint Laurent, Bottega Veneta and Brioni enjoying momentum,” Poulou said. She also noted that Saint Laurent benefited “from strong traction driven by sustained growth in North America and Western Europe and engagement from VICs and core clients”; Bottega Veneta had “high single digit growth in the quarter”, while for Balenciaga and McQueen, “the quarter was more challenging”. Kering’s jewelry business, which consists of Boucheron, Pomellato, Dodo and Qeelin, confirmed the category’s momentum, with sales up 11% to €239 million (albeit slowing compared with Q2 when it was up 18%). Kering Eyewear was up 4% to €373 million.
Pressed to comment on the creative transitions at Saint Laurent and McQueen, that have yet to appoint new creative directors following the exits of Anthony Vaccarello and Seán McGirr respectively, Poulou said: “ We should be able to give you more indication very shortly. Those successions were well anticipated and planned. That’s why we are very positive on the impact it will have with the brand. Saint Laurent is starting from a strong momentum so it’s more the opportunity to open a new chapter and to unlock all the areas of growth that we see at Saint Laurent and that we explained at the Capital Markets Day. For McQueen, it’s also going to help reposition the brand with a British tailoring approach with a very bold point of view.” Asked about media reports about potential changes at Balenciaga, she declined to comment.
Analysts had predicted that the third-quarter luxury earnings would be challenging, notably due to a sequential deceleration in China. They have proved to be right. LVMH’s fashion and leather goods division reported a sales decrease of 5% in Q3, Moncler brand revenues fell 1%, and Prada Group growth slowed to 1%. Richemont is to report its second fiscal quarter earnings on November 13.
Poulou noted that October is “broadly in line with Q3 trends in most of the regions.”
De Meo also stated: “Unlocking the group’s full potential requires restoring momentum at Gucci, accelerating on product excellence, delivering our action plan in China, realizing the full benefits of our group platform and embedding a culture of execution across the organization. The transformation of Kering is a multi-season undertaking, but the improvements we are seeing across the group, notably in desirability and key operating indicators, reinforce our confidence in the direction we have set, and the determination of our teams to deliver it.”
