On Tuesday, Swiss apparel group Calida announced it is planning to sell the Millet Mountain Group, which includes Calida’s mountain sports apparel and equipment brands Millet and Lafuma, to focus on underwear and lingerie.

In a press release, Calida indicated that, as part of a strategic business review, its board has decided, in agreement with the senior management, to sell the Millet Group business unit, which generated a revenue of €78.2 million last year.

Calida said it plans to continue its strategic reorientation, which began with the sale of sportswear brands Eider and Oxbow, in order to refocus on underwear, lingerie and the sleepwear it is renowned for in Switzerland.

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Selling Millet Mountain Group “is the next logical step in optimizing Calida's business model,” said Hans-Kristian Hoejsgaard, president of Calida, quoted in the press release.

By focusing on underwear and lingerie, the Swiss group intends to improve its profitability. It also intends to concentrate on Lafuma Furniture, whose sales skyrocketed last year during the first lockdown phase, as garden furniture orders burgeoned.

Calida is planning to devote the funds raised with this sale to investments in its core business, notably also through “targeted acquisitions,” said Managing Director Timo Schmidt-Eisenhart in the press release. The group also intends to further strengthen its e-tail business.

The decision to put Millet Mountain Group on the market is “not a big surprise,” wrote in a stock-market commentary Pascal Furger, an analyst at Vontobel, while welcoming the intention to sell two brands that have “underperformed.”

Furger noted that, for the time being, Calida has not provided any further details, including the expected selling price.

Due to the Covid crisis’ impact, the Swiss group saw its annual net profit plummet by 64.8% compared to the previous year, down to CHF5.9 million (€5.3 million at current rates), while its revenue slumped by 10.6%, to CHF332.7 million.

While the shortfall had been limited for the group’s long-established pyjamas and underwear brand Calida, as well as for lingerie brand Aubade, sales for Millet Mountain Group dropped by 19.1%, as Covid restrictions in France hampered the country’s outdoor sport activities.