July 28, 2015

By Marcellous L. Jones

Paris, France – Kering Group has reported a lovely boost in growth for the first half of 2015 with revenue up 17.0% at €5,513 million. It’s luxury sector tallied €3,762 million (17.8%) and represents more than half of total revenue.

Strong sales in boutiques located in mature markets and other synergies accounted for a great deal of this success:

New creative impetus at Gucci taking root;

Good sales dynamic at Bottega Veneta; 

Robust growth at Yves Saint Laurent;

Ongoing growth at Puma driven by its relaunch plan;

Resilient margins despite negative impact of currency hedges.

François-Henri Pinault, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at the group stated: “Kering delivered a sound performance in the first half of 2015, buoyed by strong sales growth in the second quarter in a volatile economic and currency environment. Our integrated, responsive business model enables us to capture growth in the most dynamic markets. Our Luxury activities, lifted by sales in our directly operated stores across mature markets, continued on a strong upward trend, reflecting the relevance of our strategy and the action plans in place.

“We are particularly satisfied with the progress at Gucci and the positive reception given to the brand’s new creative direction. As we enter the second half of the year, I am fully confident in the Group’s ability to combine strict management discipline with organic growth at each of our brands.”

The Kering Group is present globally in more than 120 countries. As one of the world’s most important luxury groups, it owns a plethora of the world’s most luxury, lifestyle and sports brands. Among them are Gucci, Bottega Veneta, Saint Laurent, Alexander McQueen, Balenciaga, Brioni, Christopher Kane, McQ, Stella McCartney, Tomas Maier, Sergio Rossi, Boucheron, Dodo, Girard-Perregaux, JeanRichard, Pomellato, Qeelin, Ulysse Nardin, PUMA, Volcom, Cobra and Electric.