The Growth Miracle Of Luxury Brands

Recently, HSBC (HSBC) released the "luxury industry 2010 annual sales performance forecast report", which is very optimistic about the global luxury market. It believes that the whole industry will achieve 11% growth in 2010. As for the 2011 year, despite the increasingly fierce competition in the industry, HSBC still believes that the luxury industry will achieve a sales growth of at least 7.5%. In another report, which is also published by HSBC, which is called "buy luxury goods, the sooner the better," the analysis of the analysts is optimistic. "At present, those (luxury) groups are still cautious about their financial expenditure, but the Chinese market is their assurance of confidence in the future market. Japan, a traditional luxury consumer country, still has amazing potential, let alone a weaker euro for all luxury goods to make a free advertisement."

Let's take a look at the representative cities of Paris, Milan and London. Fashion luxury brand It's like winning a miracle of growth like chicken blood: for example, Herms's sales in the first half of this year increased by 55.2% compared with the same period, and Roberto Cavalli finally turned a profit. Jimmy Choo's revenue will exceed $231 million this year.

Paris, Herms: low profile and optimistic growth

In August 31st, Herms International Group Sales performance It is estimated that annual profit growth will linger around 12%. Herms's optimism comes from its impressive performance in the first half of the year. Compared with the same period last year, sales of Herms increased by 55.2%, making a total profit of about 194 million 600 thousand euros. A year ago, the figure was 125 million 400 thousand euros.

Although HSBC has recently lowered the value of Herms's stock, it has interpreted it as a small warning after considering its appreciation of 52% in the past year. "Investors should realize that there is always a limit to the amount of money people are willing to pay for this kind of consumer goods".

The fact that grades have been lowered has not affected the mood of Herms group's new CEO Patrick Thomas. "Our business has been very good," Patrick Thomas said in an interview. "In the first half of this year, we gained 17% growth in France and other parts of Europe." Half of this achievement is attributed to local consumers, and the other half is contributed by Asian tourists who consume locally. " The confidence of Patrick Thomas in its annual performance is not merely derived from the steady performance of the brand in the European market. The data from Asia and the United States are equally encouraging.

At the beginning of this year, Herms opened a new series of men's stores on Madison Avenue in New York, and refurbished the store of women's cortex products. By the end of June this year, Herms's performance in the US market has increased by 26% and total revenue of 1 billion 70 million euros. Among them, leather products increased by 31.5%, while clothing and accessories series rose 25.7%, and silk contributed 24.3%. "We will continue to open stores and open enough stores according to the plan." It is understood that Herms plans to open or refurbishment of 20 boutiques in the world by the end of June next year, including a flagship store that will be completed on the left bank of Paris and furniture and life products.

　　 Milan Roberto Cavalli: turning losses into profits, celebrating 40th anniversary

Italy's fashion brand Roberto Cavalli, which is known for its novelty, has also released good news recently. By the end of June this year, the group's gross profit reached 12 million 100 thousand euros in the first half of the year. After deducting interest, taxes, depreciation and other items, its net profit remained as high as 1 million 900 thousand euros, which was quite good compared with the loss of 3 million 500 thousand euros a year ago. The current CEO Gianluca Brozzetti just joined the group in September last year. In an interview with the media, he said that the wholesale and retail businesses of the whole group had increased in the first half of the year, especially the direct stores, which jumped 27 percentage points. The secret of Gianluca Brozzetti turning its losses into profits is summed up as "prudent internal reconstruction and prudent cost control".

In the first half of last year, Roberto Cavalli group's revenue fell from 8 million 780 thousand euros (US $11 million 660 thousand) to 8 million 620 thousand euros (US $11 million 460 thousand), or 1.7%. Although the figures are not too sharp, when asked about the goals of the second half of this year, Gianluca Brozzetti is unwilling to give clear data, which only means that they are not ambitious and stable. Under repeated questioning, he was only a little bit more specific, and his retailers had already completed their respective business indicators. In another recent interview, Gianluca Brozzetti also made clear that the market and advertising activities to celebrate the birth of the brand 40th anniversary achieved good results in the first half of the year, which led to a surge of confidence in the group and even a celebration.

London Jimmy Choo: the market price is doubled and investment banks are in hot pursuit.

According to industry sources, banks eager to launch new businesses are frequently linked to Jimmy Choo, famous for their shoes and accessories, hoping to take part in the development of this vogue fashion brand. According to media reports, Jimmy Choo will earn more than 150 million pounds (US $231 million) this year in terms of current exchange rate.

As early as 2007, TowerBrook Capital Partners, a global private equity firm, bought the Jimmy Choo, which was valued at 185 million pounds at the time, from Lion Capital at the same time. In the past 3 years, the company's revenue has doubled, and its brand content is also very rich. It has been born with sunglasses, scarves, leather accessories and accessories. Of course, it also includes the "UGG at Jimmy Choo" Ladies' snow boots series, which will be released in October. In addition, Jimmy Choo also signed an agreement with the international perfume group Inter Parfums in October last year to cooperate in the production of OEM perfume.

Such an outstanding market performance, no wonder Jimmy Choo has been favored by major banks. A person familiar with TowerBrook recently told the media that in the past few months, there have been investment partners from various major investment banks contacting TowerBrook, showing strong interest in Jimmy Choo. The news further pointed out that, despite the large number of buyers, TowerBrook only chose Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley (Morgan Stanley), and asked them to make their own professional advice for the future market strategy of Jimmy Choo. "Now the two banks are preparing for this plan, but there is no definite content. It seems that there will be no further news before the beginning of next year. Even if the two sides conclude a transaction, it will not be implemented until the second half of next year. " TowerBrook, two banks and Jimmy Choo spokesmen declined to comment on the news.

At present, TowerBrook owns Jimmy Choo 80% shares, and the remaining 20% belong to the brand founder and creative President Tamara Mellon. Now it is owned by the board members, the former CEORobert Bensoussan and other management. Although negotiations have been launched between Goldman Sachs and Goldman Sachs, analysts have pointed out that TowerBrook is not only preparing a solution for the future of Jimmy Choo. Possible solutions include direct selling to private buyers, continued holding, etc. Associated with recent reports in the British media, the market valuation of Jimmy Choo has reached 500 million pounds (about 770 million US dollars). TowerBrook is not impossible even to carry out IPO (initial public offering).

Besides the first two rumors, the emergence of third messages made the whole situation more confusing. The person who claimed to be more familiar with Jimmy Choo, rather than TowerBrook, pointed out that when TowerBrook bought Jimmy Choo 3 years ago, Tamara Mellon and Robert Bensoussan two people openly stated that "we have reached this transaction to seek long-term development of the brand". After the completion of the acquisition, Mellon also said that "choosing TowerBrook is because compared with most private equity firms, he will help us develop for a long time and ultimately achieve the goal of $2 billion in brand value". This coincide with the fact that in recent media interviews, Jimmy Choo's current CEOJoshua Schulman also said, "TowerBrook may leave us at some time in the future, but for the time being, we still maintain a deep and close relationship."