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Beijing / AFP
Prada’s annual sales were broadly flat for a second consecutive year in 2015 as the slowdown in China continued to weigh on the high fashion and luxury goods brand.
Weak sales in Asia Pacific outside of Japan and in the United States failed to offset an improved picture in Europe, where the weak euro bolstered sales to bargain-hunting tourists from outside the region.
Total revenue at a group which includes clothes line Miu Miu and upmarket cobbler Church’s totalled 3.545 billion euros, broadly in line with expectations but slightly below a figure of 3.552 billion euros registered in 2014.
Sales in Asia Pacific outside Japan were down 4.0 percent at current exchange rates and 16 percent at constant rates.
“The economic situation in the Chinese market remains negative, although there was some improvement in the final quarter,†the company said in a statement accompanying the results.
A stronger dollar hit sales in the United States by making purchases of pricey handbags and other luxury products significantly more expensive for visitors planning to splash the cash on vacations.
The opposite trend was witnessed in Europe where the weaker euro ensured sales at constant exchange rates were up five percent.