Sales, Profits Rose At French Lingerie Giant

The Etam Group, the France-based international retailer of women’s lingerie, cosmetics, apparel and accessories, reported a 6.2% growth in sales and a 7.0% growth in profits in 2015. Its brands include Etam, Undiz and 1.2.3.

For the year the company, which focuses much of its efforts on China, earned €25.8 million (about $29.04 million at current exchange rates) on sales of €1.2966 billion (about $1.459 billion) compared to €24.1 million on sales of €1.2203 billion in 2014.

In the first quarter, sales rose just 0.3%, 1.3% in Europe with a drop of 2.0% in China. According to the firm, as of March 31, 2016 it was operating 4,064 shops of which 950 were in Europe, 270 operated by international franchises and 2,844 in China. The total is down from the beginning of last year when the company was operating 4,122 shops, 2,935 in China, 724 in France, 219 elsewhere in Europe, with 244 international franchises.

According to the company, in 2015, “In Europe, the sales growth of 2.9% like for like and at constant exchange rates was achieved mainly through the Lingerie activities of Etam and Undiz despite difficult market conditions. In China, sales like-for-like and at constant exchange rates declined by 2.5% as the Group has chosen to focus on improving the margin rate versus the volume of activity.”

“In Europe, the EBITDA of €85.5 million increased by €3.7 million. The operating income came to €59.8 million vs €58.3 million in 2014. The Group continued to invest in the digital evolution of its three brands Etam, 1.2.3 and Undiz, the deployment of their new store concepts and their internationalization. In China, the EBITDA came to €9.9 million, up €6.3 million. The operating income was a loss of €7.7 million against a loss of €6.6 million in 2014, which benefited from significant write-back of provisions on off-season stock.”

In its first quarter, Etam reported, “In Europe, sales came to €226.9 million, up 5.6% or 1.3% like-for-like and at constant exchange rates compared to the first quarter of 2015. The Group brands all achieved good sales in January and February and disappointing sales performance in March, mainly due to a declining footfall in stores for all brands. In China, sales were €122.3 million in the first quarter of 2016, down 6.8% including a negative currency impact of €3.2 million. Like-for-like and at constant exchange rates, sales were down 2.0% compared to the first quarter of 2015. The Group has resolutely chosen to focus on improving the margin volumes.”