Hugo Boss: 2019 profit down on higher operating expenses
(CercleFinance.com) - Hugo Boss reported a 4% drop in 2019 operating profit on Thursday, as a slight rise in expenses was not offset by higher sales.
The German fashion house's operating profit (EBIT) fell to 333 million euros last year, from 347 million euros in 2018, primarily due to additional investments in the group's own retail business.
Sales rose by 3% to 2.88 billion euros.
The group said all of its strategic growth drivers - online, retail sales productivity, Hugo and Asia - made above-average contributions to sales growth last year.
Hugo Boss expects, however, that the spread of the coronavirus will weigh on business, particularly in China.
For fiscal 2020, it expects currency-adjusted sales to rise between 0% and 2%, with EBIT forecast between 320 million euros and 350 million euros.
Hugo Boss said it intends to propose its shareholders a dividend of 2.75 euros per share for fiscal year 2019 - five cents higher than in the previous year.
Its shares rose 1.2% after the report, significantly outperforming a 2.7% drop in the MDAX German mid-cap index.
Copyright (c) 2020 CercleFinance.com. All rights reserved.
The German fashion house's operating profit (EBIT) fell to 333 million euros last year, from 347 million euros in 2018, primarily due to additional investments in the group's own retail business.
Sales rose by 3% to 2.88 billion euros.
The group said all of its strategic growth drivers - online, retail sales productivity, Hugo and Asia - made above-average contributions to sales growth last year.
Hugo Boss expects, however, that the spread of the coronavirus will weigh on business, particularly in China.
For fiscal 2020, it expects currency-adjusted sales to rise between 0% and 2%, with EBIT forecast between 320 million euros and 350 million euros.
Hugo Boss said it intends to propose its shareholders a dividend of 2.75 euros per share for fiscal year 2019 - five cents higher than in the previous year.
Its shares rose 1.2% after the report, significantly outperforming a 2.7% drop in the MDAX German mid-cap index.
Copyright (c) 2020 CercleFinance.com. All rights reserved.