Wolford posts disappointing third quarter

By

Anaïs Lerévérend

Published
Mar 20, 2013

After a first half year that showed a 4% growth in sales, Wolford has just announced third quarter results slightly below forecasts. For the period from November to January, the high-end Austrian hosiery and lingerie brand reported steady sales, totaling approximately 47.54 million euros compared to 47.56 million euros for the same period the previous year. It is a slight contraction that reduces the company’s growth over 9 months, now estimated at 2.5%.

The Austrian label’s EBIT is also below expectations for the third quarter. While one year ago it stood at 6.9 million euros, this time around it amounts to 4.3 million euros. During the first nine months, the EBIT suffered losses in the first half year, reaching an interim total of 3.6 million euros (9.6 million for the prior fiscal year).

Regarding sales performance, retail grew by 4% whereas wholesale suffered a decline of 4%. Geographically, the United States continues to perform very well while Europe, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands and Austria are down. But the company is optimistic about its home market Austria, predicting that it will be back in positive territory there very soon.