Luxury retail group Kering has posted higher-than-expected operating profit for the first half of the year, boosted by sales momentum from Gucci.
The company – which also operates Yves Saint Laurent, Alexander McQueen and Bottega Venetta – said its recurring operating income rose 53 per cent year-on-year to €1.77 billion (£1.56 billion), which was slightly above the €1.73 billion average analysts forecast.
READ MORE:
Gucci continued its momentum, with revenue growth still well above its Kering stablemates despite slowing slightly.
In its second quarter, Gucci’s comparable revenues were up 40.1 per cent year-on-year compared to a surge of almost 49 per cent in the first quarter.
Kering also used its half-year report to confirm that it did not intend to sell off any more of its smaller fashion brands beyond those currently in the process of being sold.
In June it was revealed that Kering was in talks with Christopher Kane to sell the eponymous label, in which it had a 51 percent stake, back to the designer himself.
Kering was also ending its joint venture with Stella McCartney and earlier this year, it sold off its majority stakes in sportswear giant Puma.
“The common pattern of those brands is that we did not fully control them,” Kering group managing director Jean-Francois Palus told a conference call with analysts.
“We do not intend to dispose of any other brands of our current portfolio.”
Click here to sign up to Retail Gazette‘s free daily email newsletter
