UK's Debenhams Returns to Profit after Five Years, Expects Further Cost Cuts

FILE PHOTO: Debenhams logo is seen on smartphone in front of a displayed Boohoo logo in this illustration taken January 25, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Debenhams logo is seen on smartphone in front of a displayed Boohoo logo in this illustration taken January 25, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
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UK's Debenhams Returns to Profit after Five Years, Expects Further Cost Cuts

FILE PHOTO: Debenhams logo is seen on smartphone in front of a displayed Boohoo logo in this illustration taken January 25, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Debenhams logo is seen on smartphone in front of a displayed Boohoo logo in this illustration taken January 25, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

British fashion ‌retailer Debenhams , also known as boohoo, reported a profit for the first time in five years on Friday and expects further cost cuts as a turnaround plan gathers pace, said Reuters.

Here are some more details:

-The company reported pretax profit of £28.3 million ($37.89 million) for the six ‌months ended August ‌31, compared to a ‌loss ⁠of £17.9 million a year ⁠ago, its first profit before tax since August 2021.

-Expects to reduce costs related to depreciation, lease and interest in fiscal year 2028, while a new financial ⁠facility should further cut costs.

-Debt ‌to be ‌negligible by the end of the ‌year thanks to the disposal of ‌Sheffield automation and lease assignment and sale of Nasty Gal brand, the retailer said.

-The company reported steady growth ‌in September and reiterated its previous annual forecast of gross merchandise value (GMV) ⁠growth ⁠and adjusted core profit no less than £59 million.

-It expects to deliver more than £100 million in profit before tax in the medium term and become a multi-billion-pound GMV business.

-The group's turnaround plan has been focused on streamlining its operations to tackle mounting debt and slow demand at its youth brands.

 



UK's Debenhams Returns to Profit after Five Years, Expects Further Cost Cuts

FILE PHOTO: Debenhams logo is seen on smartphone in front of a displayed Boohoo logo in this illustration taken January 25, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Debenhams logo is seen on smartphone in front of a displayed Boohoo logo in this illustration taken January 25, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
TT

UK's Debenhams Returns to Profit after Five Years, Expects Further Cost Cuts

FILE PHOTO: Debenhams logo is seen on smartphone in front of a displayed Boohoo logo in this illustration taken January 25, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Debenhams logo is seen on smartphone in front of a displayed Boohoo logo in this illustration taken January 25, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

British fashion ‌retailer Debenhams , also known as boohoo, reported a profit for the first time in five years on Friday and expects further cost cuts as a turnaround plan gathers pace, said Reuters.

Here are some more details:

-The company reported pretax profit of £28.3 million ($37.89 million) for the six ‌months ended August ‌31, compared to a ‌loss ⁠of £17.9 million a year ⁠ago, its first profit before tax since August 2021.

-Expects to reduce costs related to depreciation, lease and interest in fiscal year 2028, while a new financial ⁠facility should further cut costs.

-Debt ‌to be ‌negligible by the end of the ‌year thanks to the disposal of ‌Sheffield automation and lease assignment and sale of Nasty Gal brand, the retailer said.

-The company reported steady growth ‌in September and reiterated its previous annual forecast of gross merchandise value (GMV) ⁠growth ⁠and adjusted core profit no less than £59 million.

-It expects to deliver more than £100 million in profit before tax in the medium term and become a multi-billion-pound GMV business.

-The group's turnaround plan has been focused on streamlining its operations to tackle mounting debt and slow demand at its youth brands.

 


Gucci's Sales Drop 5% in 3rd Quarter as Weak Chinese Demand Dampens Turnaround Hopes

FILE PHOTO: A model presents a creation from the Gucci Spring/Summer 2027 collection during Fashion Week in Milan, Italy, September 25, 2026. REUTERS/Claudia Greco/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A model presents a creation from the Gucci Spring/Summer 2027 collection during Fashion Week in Milan, Italy, September 25, 2026. REUTERS/Claudia Greco/File Photo
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Gucci's Sales Drop 5% in 3rd Quarter as Weak Chinese Demand Dampens Turnaround Hopes

FILE PHOTO: A model presents a creation from the Gucci Spring/Summer 2027 collection during Fashion Week in Milan, Italy, September 25, 2026. REUTERS/Claudia Greco/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A model presents a creation from the Gucci Spring/Summer 2027 collection during Fashion Week in Milan, Italy, September 25, 2026. REUTERS/Claudia Greco/File Photo

Kering on Thursday said sales at its flagship label Gucci fell by 6% in the third quarter, in line with market expectations, as low store traffic in China weighed on the Italian brand's performance, Reuters reported.

Sales at Gucci, which accounts for roughly half of group profits, were down to €1.29 billion ($1.44 billion) in the quarter, Kering said, while total group ⁠revenues fell by ⁠1% when adjusted for currency swings.

Asked by journalists on a call if returning to overall growth was still the aim for Kering this year, finance chief Armelle Poulou declined ⁠to comment, pointing to the publication of full-year results.

Store footfall remains the main problem at Gucci, whose sales have been declining for more than three straight years. Revenues from the brand's own store network were down 9%, Kering said, while wholesale and licensing revenues were up.

Lower-than-expected quarterly sales at peers ⁠LVMH and ⁠Hermes, and signs of cooling demand in the US have added to investors' concerns around Kering's turnaround.

"We keep on carrying out our plan with the utmost discipline,” Poulou said, adding the group has so far reduced its retail network by 105 stores and was targeting 125 closures by the end of the year.


Hermes Third-quarter Growth Slows as Ready-to-wear Turns Negative

Birkin bags are displayed at Lilac Blue, a Knightsbridge private Hermes resale boutique, in London, Britain, October 19, 2026. REUTERS/Suzanne Plunkett
Birkin bags are displayed at Lilac Blue, a Knightsbridge private Hermes resale boutique, in London, Britain, October 19, 2026. REUTERS/Suzanne Plunkett
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Hermes Third-quarter Growth Slows as Ready-to-wear Turns Negative

Birkin bags are displayed at Lilac Blue, a Knightsbridge private Hermes resale boutique, in London, Britain, October 19, 2026. REUTERS/Suzanne Plunkett
Birkin bags are displayed at Lilac Blue, a Knightsbridge private Hermes resale boutique, in London, Britain, October 19, 2026. REUTERS/Suzanne Plunkett

Birkin bag maker Hermes on Thursday posted slightly weaker third-quarter revenues than analysts expected as ready-to-wear sales turned negative for the first time in years amid what Hermes called a "challenging" economic context.

Hermes's miss, which follows LVMH's downbeat quarterly sales update earlier this month, looked likely to further unsettle investors about the company's resilience in the face of a wider luxury sector slowdown.

Hermes finance chief Eric du Halgouet told journalists in a call that the Chinese market, Hermes' single-largest, was "very difficult", but added he remained confident ⁠on long-term prospects and would ⁠keep investing in the country.

Quarterly sales rose 4.3% year-on-year in currency-adjusted terms to €4.10 billion ($4.61 billion), slightly below an expected growth rate of 5.2% from analysts polled by Visible Alpha.

It was the weakest quarterly sales growth rate since early 2020, when Hermes had to shut down boutiques ⁠globally due to the pandemic.

Quarterly sales of Hermes's leather goods division, which makes its famous Birkin and Kelly handbags, rose 10.8%, while sales at the company's ready-to-wear and accessories division, accounting for over a quarter of quarterly sales, declined by 2% from last year, Reuters reported.

Du Halgouet said the contraction in ready-to-wear was only due to weak Chinese demand while the division kept growing in all other regions.

Hermes shares are down 36% since the start of the year.

Analysts have flagged ⁠a ⁠growing sense among investors that Hermes's historically high stock-market valuation, resulting from a decade of strong growth, may move closer to industry averages as the pace of its expansion is slowing.

The brand's famous Birkin handbags have become more available on the second-hand market and so have lost some of their appeal, several resellers told Reuters, suggesting Hermes's scarcity-driven business model could be coming under pressure.

The Birkin's desirability remains "intact," du Halgouet said, adding the company would stick to its rhythm of increasing overall production volumes by around 6% in the coming years.