Fashion house Escada swings to H1 loss on one-time charges
29 Jun '06
3 min read
German fashion house Escada AG has recorded positive business performance for first half of fiscal year 2005/2006 (reporting date: October 31) in line with expectations.
Group sales for the ladies' luxury fashion manufacturer were up by 6.2 percent, increasing from €312.6 million for the same period of last year to €332.1 million. In the second quarter Escada raised Group sales by 8.5 percent to €165.4 million (second quarter 2004/2005: €152.5 million).
At €36.9 million the consolidated earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) grew over proportionally to sales and were up by 9.8 percent against the first half of last year (€33.6 million).
EBITDA for the company brand increased by 16.2 percent from €22.8 million to €26.5 million. As had been expected, the Primera Group's EBITDA of €10.4 million remained below the figure for last year's first half of €12.2 million. This was due to start-up costs for the expansion of the own retail and because of positive extraordinary effects recorded in the first six months of fiscal year 2004/2005.
Group EBITDA for the second quarter was up by 25.2 percent from €13.1 million to €16.4 million, marking a significant and over proportional rise on sales performance.
Over the last months the Board of Management extensively reviewed and assessed the Group, as a result of which the Board considers individual positions in the balance sheet to be in need of correction. This concerns essentially the new valuation of inventories and deferred taxes abroad. The measures relating to inventories create a basis for the announced improvement in working capital management, which is to be executed more rapidly in the future.
marketing@alchempro.com
