Hugo Boss檢視分店銷售狀況，關閉中國大陸20間店 | Hugo Boss to close 20 stores in China amid weak demand

Hugo Boss檢視分店銷售狀況，關閉中國大陸20間店

由於2015年全年收益下跌及利潤減少，Hugo Boss將關閉中國大陸約20間店，並著手處理美國的大量折扣促銷活動，以維護長期銷售及獲利成長。

這個處境四面楚歌的德國時尚品牌在發布獲利下滑後，其執行長於今（2016）年2月辭職，Hugo Boss表示，公司正在優化中國大陸的零售業務，2月份時調低中國大陸的商品售價，以貼近美洲及歐洲的售價。除了進行大規模的業務重整，總數145家門市將關閉20家左右。

與其他時尚品牌一樣，受到中國大陸經濟放緩及銷售不佳影響，Hugo Boss因而調整售價試圖提振銷售。

Hugo Boss計劃限制在美國的經銷批發，以及僅在店中店提供Boss的核心品牌商品，以盡可能不以大折扣的方式促銷。Hugo Boss已與Macy’s百貨公司達成協議，讓Hugo Boss管理百貨內所有的8間店中店。

為了提供更無縫的消費者體驗，Hugo Boss也計劃拓展其網路業務，並於今年第二季落實其歐洲內的線上業務。

Hugo Boss表示，在檢視過成本結構及預定投資計畫後，今年的總投資額將低於2億歐元（約2,220萬美元），特別是在擴大拓展其自家零售業務上。

Hugo Boss公布2015年全年業績時宣布裁減計畫，全年收益從2014年的3.33億歐元下滑至3.19億歐元，下跌4.2%。毛利率減少了10個基點至66%，2014年則為66.1%，而銷售則上升9%至28.1億歐元。

2015年在歐洲的銷售成長了7%，為16.8億歐元；在美洲則成長14%至6,700萬歐元；而在亞太地區的銷售則增加9%至3.929億歐元。

Hugo Boss財務長Mark Langer堅稱Hugo Boss仍是個“健全及成長型的企業”，不過公司也注意到“日益嚴峻市場環境”。

「為了維護我們獲利長期成長，我們必須調整策略使其更加符合消費者需求。因此我們的管理階層已經採取措施，成功解決外部及公司所面臨的挑戰。我們品牌的吸引力、我們營運平台的品質、我們的財務實力及我們幹勁十足的員工，為我們未來提供了強健的基礎。

Hugo Boss預期2016年會計年度在匯率影響的調整之後，銷售將有低個位數百分率的成長，預測毛利率差不多維持穩定。


新聞來源：台灣紡拓會

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Hugo Boss to close 20 stores in China amid weak demand

Well at least it hasn’t taken the scissors to its dividend but Hugo Boss, the troubled German retailer which recently parted ways with its chief executive, is likely to disappoint shareholders by failing to lift its full year payout. It has, however, promised to take action to revive flagging sales in the US and China, including closing around 20 of its Chinese stores.

The group has proposed a dividend of €3.62 a share, stable with the previous year, despite sales rising 9 per cent last year – or by 3 per cent excluding currency movements – to €2.8bn. According to a Bloomberg poll, analysts had been expecting an improvement in the dividend to €3.65 a share in an effort to appease shareholders, who have seen the company snip away at its forecasts several times in the last six months as demand for luxury fashion in key markets such as China has ebbed away.

Hugo Boss said last month that its chief executive of eight years, Claus-Dietrich Lahrs, would leave “as part of a mutual agreement”, just days after it warned that continued weak demand in China and the US would depress its profits in 2016. The company said it expects adjusted operating profit to decline at a “low double-digit percentage rate” this year. Hugo Boss had also cut its sales and profit forecasts in October last year.

In 2015, Hugo Boss’s sales rose to record levels but earnings fell short of expectations due to the challenging trading conditions in China and the US. Its gross profit margin for 2015 fell 10 basis points to 66 per cent and net income fell 4 per cent year-on-year to €319m, also due to higher finance expenses.

The group insisted on Thursday that it is taking action to revive sales in the US and China, including closing around 20 stores in China, plus making improvements to distribution and “brand perception”.

Mark Langer, Hugo Boss’s finance director said on Thursday:

To safeguard our profitable long-term growth, we have to align our strategy even more rigorously with customer needs. Management has therefore initiated measures to successfully address the external and company-specific challenges. Our brand’s attractiveness, the quality of our operating platform, our financial strength and our highly motivated workforce give us strong foundations for the future.

Hugo Boss is one of several luxury clothing retailers that has been caught out as the tide has turned in China, where shoppers who were once happy to splash their spare cash on status brands have turned more cautious following last year’s devaluation of the renminbi and amid concerns an expected slowdown in economic growth may be steeper than originally expected.

In the US, the company has reported weaker sales to tourists and constrained levels of consumer spending, which has forced it to offer more promotions.

Original Article: fastFT