Calida Group posts first-half sales growth

Continued investment in its ecommerce channel has helped Switzerland’s Calida Group deliver a 4% sales increase in constant currency in the first half of 2019, while operating profit rose by more than 15%.

The company, whose portfolio includes Aubade and the Millet Mountain Group, said it enjoyed growth across all brands and sales channels.

In the first half of the year, net sales increased by 4% on a currency neutral basis to 179 million euros. Wholesale revenue grew 1.9% in comparable terms; retail and outlet sales were up 2.8%, and e-commerce reported a healthy 20.9% boost.

All group brands and sales channels contributed to the positive performance, Calida Group indicated in a statement on Wednesday.

Its flagship brand Calida saw sales rise 2.8% compared with the same period last year, posting revenues of about 57 million euros. The luxury lingerie brand Aubade increased sales by 3.4% to 27.6 million euros and surf and lifestyle brand Oxbow grew 3.4% to 14.7 million euros. The Millet Mountain Group, and its Millet, Lafuma and Eider brands, was up 6.2% to 41.1 million euros and Lafuma Mobilier made revenues of 31 million euros, representing a 2.9% increase on 2018.

Calida was upbeat as it released its latest set of results, saying that the performance was achieved against a backdrop of structural changes within the retail market. It attributed the significant increase in sales and profit to targeted investments in its e commerce capabilities. In fact, online sales grew by 12% during the period.

“The Calida Group has also shown in the first six months of the current year that it is able to anticipate and react to continuing challenges and changes significantly better than the rest of the market. We are leaders in key topics such as sustainability, digitisation and omnichannel. The systematic implementation of our corporate strategy is paying off. In this way, we are strengthening the foundation for further profitable growth,” said Reiner Pichler, group CEO.

Operating profit (EBIT) increased by 15.3% to 5.7 million euros. Excluding the effect of the application of IFRS 16, the EBIT figure rose by 10.3%. Compared to June 2018, the equity ratio increased by 4.3 percentage points to 60.4%.

As it enters into the second half of the year, Calida said it expects a further increase in sales in constant currency driven by the strength of its brands and the ongoing investment in product development and innovation. The group wants to grab a bigger share of the market in declining markets.

Calida Group posts first-half sales growth

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