Lifestyle brand Esprit interim profit rise 28% to HK$2.4 bn
24 Mar '07
2 min read
Esprit Holdings Limited announced interim results for the six months ended December 31, 2006. “Once again, Esprit has achieved an excellent set of results together with strong growth in turnover and earnings, demonstrating our ability to deliver sustainable growth,” said Mr Heinz Krogner, Chairman and Group CEO.
“While all key markets delivered good results, we are exceptionally thrilled to see rapid growth in our focused markets, such as Spain, Italy and the UK. The growth momentum of these countries will be a key catalyst to drive future growth.”
Mr John Poon, Deputy Chairman and Group CFO said, “with a stable cost structure and improved operating efficiency, we were able to expand the operating profit margin by 0.6% point to 21% which was better than our expectation. Together with a higher contribution from our associated companies with operation in China, our net profit margin edged up by 0.6% point to 16.4%.”
“In light of the Company's healthy performance and strong balance sheet, the Board declared an interim dividend of HK$0.70 per share to be paid on April 11, 2007, representing 40% yoy increase,” added Mr Poon.
Thomas Grote, President of ESPRIT brand said, “encouraged by strong retail momentum with productivity improvement, we will accelerate the retail network expansion and plan to open over 400 new stores in the next 3 years. A new real estate team has been set up to identify suitable store locations globally. In the second halfof the financial year alone, around 30 new retail stores will be added throughout the world.”
marketing@alchempro.com
