Zalando Posts First Decline in Sales Since Founding

21 March 2022, Berlin: The logo of the online retailer Zalando on a company building. (dpa)
21 March 2022, Berlin: The logo of the online retailer Zalando on a company building. (dpa)
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Zalando Posts First Decline in Sales Since Founding

21 March 2022, Berlin: The logo of the online retailer Zalando on a company building. (dpa)
21 March 2022, Berlin: The logo of the online retailer Zalando on a company building. (dpa)

Zalando posted a decline in sales for the first time since the German online fashion retailer was founded, leading it to dim its outlook for 2022 on Thursday.

First-quarter sales fell by 1.5%, to 2.2 billion euros ($2.33 billion), after posting a 46.8% increase in the same quarter last year thanks to the coronavirus pandemic.

"The main issue is that people just aren't into buying fashion," said co-Chief Executive Officer Robert Gentz with a view to high inflation and the war in Ukraine.

For the three months from January to March, the company reported an adjusted operating loss of almost 52 million euros, compared with a year-earlier profit of 93 million euros.

Zalando now sees 2022 sales growth coming in at the lower end of the forecast range of 12% to 19%, and adjusted earnings before interest and taxes would at the lower end of the expected range of 430 million to 510 million euros.

"We believe in the strength of our business model and are taking further actions to improve our results," said Gentz, who added that he expects significant acceleration of business in the second half of the year.

Zalando, along with Asos and Boohoo, was one of the winners of the coronavirus crisis as people had to go online to purchase clothes and cosmetics due to shop closures.

As pandemic restrictions have eased, people are returning to in-store shopping, which is why Zalando was only able to increase its number of customers slightly compared to the previous quarter, to 48.8 million.



Hong Kong Investigates Louis Vuitton Data Leak that Affected 419,000

People pose for pictures next to "The Louis", a large ship-shaped structure of the Louis Vuitton brand, in Shanghai on July 15, 2025. (Photo by Hector RETAMAL / AFP)
People pose for pictures next to "The Louis", a large ship-shaped structure of the Louis Vuitton brand, in Shanghai on July 15, 2025. (Photo by Hector RETAMAL / AFP)
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Hong Kong Investigates Louis Vuitton Data Leak that Affected 419,000

People pose for pictures next to "The Louis", a large ship-shaped structure of the Louis Vuitton brand, in Shanghai on July 15, 2025. (Photo by Hector RETAMAL / AFP)
People pose for pictures next to "The Louis", a large ship-shaped structure of the Louis Vuitton brand, in Shanghai on July 15, 2025. (Photo by Hector RETAMAL / AFP)

Hong Kong's privacy watchdog said on Monday that it was investigating a data leak at Louis Vuitton affecting about 419,000 customers, just after a cyberattack on the luxury brand in South Korea in June.

Leaked data included names, passport details, addresses and email addresses as well as phone numbers, shopping history and product preferences, Hong Kong's Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data said in an emailed statement.

Louis Vuitton submitted the data breach incident to the office on July 17. Its French head office found suspicious activities on its computer system on June 13 and then discovered on July 2 that it affected Hong Kong customers, Reuters quoted the statement as saying.

The office said it had launched an investigation into Louis Vuitton Hong Kong, including whether the incident involved delayed notification. No relevant complaints or inquiries have been received so far, it said.

The incident comes after a systems breach at Louis Vuitton in Korea in June led to the leak of some customer data, including contact information, but it did not involve customers' financial information, the company said.

Louis Vuitton did not immediately respond to requests for comment.