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Sales at French luxury group Kering have been weighed down by weak performance at its biggest brand Gucci, as investors wait for a new designer to be named to lead a stalled turnaround.
Kering’s sales fell 12 per cent on an organic basis in the fourth quarter to €4.39bn. At Gucci, which typically accounts for about half of group sales and two-thirds of profits, sales fell 24 per cent to €1.92bn in the quarter, missing analyst expectations, while operating income for the full year fell 51 per cent to €1.6bn.
Kering said last week it would part ways with Gucci creative director Sabato de Sarno after only two years, just days before reporting full-year results to the market.
“In a difficult year, we accelerated the transformation of several of our Houses . . . Our efforts must remain sustained and we are confident that we have driven Kering to a point of stabilisation, from which we will gradually resume our growth trajectory,” said François-Henri Pinault, chair and chief executive of the Paris-listed group.
