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EU Hits Pierre Cardin and Licensee with $6 Mln Antitrust Fine

Flags of the European Union (EU) and Ukraine fly together with flags of EU member states outside the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France November 26, 2024. REUTERS/Yves Herman
Flags of the European Union (EU) and Ukraine fly together with flags of EU member states outside the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France November 26, 2024. REUTERS/Yves Herman
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EU Hits Pierre Cardin and Licensee with $6 Mln Antitrust Fine

Flags of the European Union (EU) and Ukraine fly together with flags of EU member states outside the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France November 26, 2024. REUTERS/Yves Herman
Flags of the European Union (EU) and Ukraine fly together with flags of EU member states outside the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France November 26, 2024. REUTERS/Yves Herman

The EU Commission on Thursday said it had handed a total fine of 5.7 million euros ($6 million) to French fashion house Pierre Cardin and German clothing maker Ahlers for breaching EU antitrust rules.
The commission said the companies between 2008 and 2011 had anticompetitive agreements to shield Ahlers from competition in European countries where it held a Pierre Cardin license.
The move by the European Commission, which acts as the EU competition enforcer, followed dawn raids on Pierre Cardin in 2021 and charges imposed against the company last year.
"These illegal practices prevent retailers from being able to freely source products in member states with lower prices and artificially partition the internal market," the commission said.
Pierre Cardin was fined for 2.2 million euros, while Ahlers has to pay 3.5 million euros.
The fine confirmed an earlier report by Reuters.

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Dr Martens Slips into the Red; Says Festive Season Off to a Good Start

FILE PHOTO: People enter in a Dr. Martens store in Manchester, Britain, May 26, 2023. REUTERS/Jason Cairnduff/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: People enter in a Dr. Martens store in Manchester, Britain, May 26, 2023. REUTERS/Jason Cairnduff/File Photo
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Dr Martens Slips into the Red; Says Festive Season Off to a Good Start

FILE PHOTO: People enter in a Dr. Martens store in Manchester, Britain, May 26, 2023. REUTERS/Jason Cairnduff/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: People enter in a Dr. Martens store in Manchester, Britain, May 26, 2023. REUTERS/Jason Cairnduff/File Photo

Dr Martens said on Thursday that the autumn-winter festive season had got off to an encouraging start after the struggling bootmaker swung to a first-half pretax loss on weak demand in the United States, its biggest market.
Its shares, which have lost about a quarter of their value so far this year, rose 16% in early trade, Reuters reported.
The British company, whose chunky lace-up boots popularly known as "Docs" or "DMs" were originally made for workers before becoming a fashion statement in the 1960s, has been contending with a weak North American market and is betting on the festive season to shore up its sales and profit.
Dr Martens expects to make cost savings of about 25 million pounds ($31.64 million) in its fiscal year to end-March, 2026 with around two-thirds of that coming from job cuts.
The company reported a pretax loss of 28.7 million pounds for the six months ended Sept. 29, compared with a profit of 25.8 million pounds a year earlier. Revenue dropped 18% to 325 million pounds.
To halt the decline in profit at a time when consumers are shying away from pricy items such as the brand's $170 classic boots, Dr Martens has sought to cut costs while also increasing spending on US marketing.
"Our new marketing campaigns are showing encouraging early signs, with strong sales of new product, giving us confidence that we will return USA (direct-to-consumer) to positive growth in the second half," outgoing CEO Kenny Wilson said in a statement.
Wilson, who announced in April that he would step down, will be replaced by Chief Brand Officer Ije Nwokorie on Jan. 6, the company confirmed on Thursday.
It maintained its fiscal 2025 outlook of a single-digit percentage year-on-year revenue drop, with a worst-case scenario of pretax profit at around one-third of the previous year's.