Van De Velde Sales -2%

First half swimwear sales “lagged” for the Marie Jo and Primadonna brands, but those for the Sarda brand “grew strongly,” in 2025.

Van de Velde sales for 2025 fell 2% while profit plummeted 44.3%. The Belgium based company owns the Primadonna, Marie Jo and Sarda brands, as well as other labels and retail chains (including Rigby and Peller), and has a 25.6% stake in Top Form Ltd., an Asia-based manufacturer of intimate apparel.

Sales in 2025 were 202.4 million euros (about $234.7 million at today’s exchange rate) compared to 206.4 million euros in 2024. Net income was 17.8 million euros (about $20.6 million) in 2025, compared to 32.0 million euros (about $37.1 million) the year before.

CEO Karel Verlinde explained that “after a challenging first half of the year, we returned to revenue growth in the second half, driven by lingerie sales. The renewal of our assortment and the further expansion of the direct-to-consumer segment to strengthen brand experience are beginning to bear fruit in both the summer and winter seasons. This also translated into higher EBITDA in the second half. In the first half, however, EBITDA decreased due to lower sales in swim and the impact of high import duties on the U.S. market.”

2025 sales in the B2B segment declined 4.5% to 146.4 million euros (about $169.7 million) last year, compared to 153.3 million euros in 2024. Sales in the direct to consumer segment rose 5.2% to 55.9 million euros (about $64.8 million) compared to 53.1 million euros.

The growth of the brand websites was “further supported by ongoing geographic expansion and a strengthened presence on external online marketplaces. In addition to adding new sales points, this aligns with our strategy to further enhance brand experience,” the company explained. Van de Velde’s business to business segment “declined by -3.4%, driven by a weaker first half,” but achieved “slight growth of +0.5%” in the second half. “Growth in the second half was achieved in European markets. The North American market has not yet fully recovered after disruptions caused by import tariffs. In the first half of the year, the revenue decline was mainly driven by the swim segment. For the brands Marie Jo and Primadonna, both pre-sales and realized sales lagged, partly due to high customer inventory levels. In contrast, the swim assortment of Sarda grew strongly.

New starts into the base assortments of Marie Jo and Primadonna were successfully introduced in both halves of the year.”

As part of its financial disclosure, Van de Velde revealed that “currently, prospects and cash flow of Top Form Ltd. are characterized by increased uncertainty, due to challenging market conditions in the U.S., its key market, volatile international trade, and uncertainty regarding one of its customers.” These factors and a new valuation method, resulted in a “9.6 million euro impairment” for Top Form. It added “Van de Velde continues to diversify its production activities, partly due to global uncertainty. In cooperation with Top Form Ltd., part of production is being moved to Thailand. Additional production partners in the Far East are also being tested.”