Folli Follie’s Asia sales rise despite China decline

Bloomberg

Folli Follie’s network of stores in its key Chinese market shrank by more than half last year even as its sales in Asia increased, according to the latest figures published by its parent company FF Group this week.
The main brand of the Greek retailer reported 113 points of sale in mainland China in a document published and reviewed by Bloomberg News, against a network of over 240 points of sale declared in its 2016 annual report. The company said that its Asia-Pacific revenue rose to $1.1 billion in 2017, which corresponds to 65 percent of the total sales for the entire company.
Mantalena Kasidiaropoulou, head of investor relations for FF Group in Athens, said she is working to provide “more qualitative information” to the market about its store network, together with a more detailed list of points of sale as soon as possible. She was not in a position to comment on Bloomberg’s review of the company’s reports. “We are a retail company and there’s a constant shift in points of sale,” she said.
Declaring higher Asian sales from a rapidly shrinking Chinese network comes as the company falls under scrutiny from investors and regulators, after a report by the hedge fund Quintessential Capital Management questioned its financial accounting. China accounted for more than one third of Folli Follie’s outlets worldwide, according to its 2016 financial statement.
Shares and bonds partially recovered later this week after the company announced a buyback plan and Fosun International Ltd., the company’s second largest shareholder after founder Dimitris Koutsolioutsos, increased its stake to 15 percent.
In the statement, the company said wholesale represented the vast majority of revenue. Wholesale includes also revenues that are not included in points of sale, such as corporate gifts, online marketplaces, and airline in-flight sales, it said.
The company said that Folli Follie’s points of sale worldwide dropped to 587 in 2017 from 634 a year earlier and published a “detailed list of all the points of sales related to the brand Folli Follie.” It invited “everyone to visit them.”
The list includes 113 points of sale in mainland China and another 57 between Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macao, according to the Bloomberg News review. The list also includes one point of sale at “Shanghai Hongqiao Airport Terminal 3”.
At least 10 points of sale identified in the UK and Ireland have also stopped selling jewellery, watches or accessories of the Greek brand in the past months or years.