Hugo Boss lowers full year outlook after challenging Q2

Hugo Boss sales decreased 1 percent currency-adjusted to 1,015 million euros in the second quarter. The company attributed the decline to challenging macroeconomic and geopolitical conditions weighing on global consumer demand.

Lowering its full-year outlook, the company said it expects sales of around 4.20 billion euros to 4.35 billion euros, up between 1 percent to 4 percent in group currency; EBIT of between 350 million euros and 430 million euros , down 15 percent to 5 percent.

“We are operating in a period of significant global macro uncertainty, which also affected our performance in the second quarter,” said Daniel Grieder, chief executive officer of Hugo Boss.

Hugo Boss posts decline in Q2 sales across core markets

The company’s gross margin increased 50 basis points to 62.9 percent, while EBIT amounted to 70 million euros, down 42 percent.

The company added that while the Americas grew 5 percent, revenue declined 2 percent in EMEA and 4 percent in Asia/Pacific in the second quarter.

From a channel perspective, the company reported a 5 percent increase in brick-and-mortar wholesale, while revenues for business declined 4 percent. Revenues were also down 2 percent in brick-and-mortar retail, reflecting lower store traffic.

Currency-adjusted revenues for Boss menswear remained 2 percent below the prior-year level, while sales for Boss womenswear increased by 2 percent. At Hugo, sales were up 3 percent, supported by the launch of denim focused line Hugo Blue.

The company earlier expected sales to increase between 3 percent and 6 percent to around 4.30 billion euros to 4.45 billion euros, EBIT to increase by 5 percent to 15 percent to around 430 million euros to 475 million euros.