Prada Beats Profit Expectations in First Half of 2021

Fashion

July 31st, 6:59am

Asharq Al-Awsat

A man wearing a face mask following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak walks past a store of Italian luxury brand Prada on a shopping street in Beijing, China, January 20, 2021. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang

Italian luxury label Prada posted Thursday a first-half profit that was above analysts' expectations, while indicating that its sales recovery should continue. Net profit for the first half of 2021 rose to 97 million euros ($115 million), from a loss of 180 million euros a year earlier at the height of the coronavirus pandemic. Analysts, on average, were expecting net profit of 78 million euros, according to financial information provider Factset Estimates. Sales leapt by 60 percent to 1.5 billion euros in the half, again ahead of the analysts' consensus of 1.42 billion euros, reported AFP. Despite 17 percent of Prada's stores remaining closed in the first half of the year due to ongoing Covid-19 restrictions, retail sales reached €1.28 billion, surpassing the pre-pandemic level with an eight-percent increase over the same period in 2019. The haute couture house posted a core operating profit (Ebit) of 166 million euros, which was better than expected as well, and better than the 150-million-euro result a year earlier. Prada chief executive Patrizio Bertelli said the group had managed to raise its profit "despite a still uncertain environment. "The sales momentum will stay strong in the second half of the year," he added in a statement, driven by growth in Asia. For 2020 as a whole, the label posted a net loss of 54 million euros.

from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/3107641/prada-beats-profit-expectations-first-half-2021