Safilo Group announces its results for the first nine months of the year (article en anglais)

Another quarter of strong growth in sales and improvement of net profit (+83% compared to 2005)
 
Main economic indicators for the first nine months of 2006.
 
* Group’s consolidated turnover: € 843,6 million (+8,6% compared to 2005)
* EBITDA: € 128,1 million (+0,5% compared to 2005)
* Net Profit: € 29,1 million (+83% compared to 2005)
* Net debt: € 512 million ( € 479 million at the end of 2005)
* Shareholders’ Equity: € 853 million ( € 827 million at the end of 2005)
 
The Board of Directors of Safilo Group Spa today reviewed and approved the consolidated results relating to the third quarter of 2006 which show further improvement on the already positive results achieved in the first half of the year.
The Group’s turnover for the first nine months of 2006 amounts to Euro 843,6 million, an increase of 8.6% compared to the 776,7 million Euro registered in the first nine months of 2005. At constant exchange rates the increase in sales is 7.8%.
The excellent results of the first nine months of the financial year have been achieved thanks to the good sales performance of the company’s licensed products, and to the significant growth in turnover of the Group’s house brand products (+13.8%), a clear sign of the effectiveness of the house brand re- launch strategies. The Italian and American markets, with respective increases of 13.3% and 12.4%, showed the greatest sales performances.
A 10.8% increase in revenues compared to the same period of the previous year has led to particularly impressive results in the third quarter. At constant exchange rates the increase is of 13.5%. This improvement in sales confirms the positive reception by the end consumer of the Group’s collections, and is the result of a positive economic climate in general and increased production capacity.
Operating profit has grown with EBITDA reaching 128,1 million Euro compared to 127,4 million Euro in the first nine months of 2005. This improvement has been achieved thanks to an extremely positive third quarter (EBITDA +12.5% compared to 2005), driven by admirable sales results and the first effects of the industrial level cost containment policies.
The incidence of financial costs has also been considerably reduced owing to the company’s more balanced financial structure.
Net profit for the first nine months of the year has risen considerably: +83% (equal to 29,1 million Euro compared to 15,9 million Euro in 2005), thanks also to the net profit generated in the thirdquarter of the year which amounted to 7,3 million Euro against the 0,5 million Euro of the previous year.
The increase of the Group’s financial position compared to the beginning of the year and resulting from the normal seasonal nature of working capital, reflects the necessity to finance the Group’s considerable growth in sales.
On 9th November the Group acquired the retail chain Loop Vision which includes 61 sales points in Spain, one of the fastest growing markets in Europe, and is considered to be one of the leading distribution realities in the luxury sector. The cost of this acquisition is around 23 million Euro.
Vittorio Tabacchi, Chairman of Safilo Group, while commenting on the results, declared: “The third quarter provides further confirmation of the positive results already achieved in the first six months of the year. The sales strategy to compensate for the termination of the Ralph Lauren licence is producing better than expected results, confirming the Group’s strength independently of any single brand. The new collections Hugo Boss and Marc by Marc Jacobs were extremely well received by the market and this leads us to foresee a 2007 of further growth both in turnover and profitability”.
With reference to the commitment undertaken by the company during the listing process and as indicated in the Information Prospectus, work is continuing in IT sector in order to implement the automatic connection of the Group’s administrative software with the aim to integrate more than 75% of the Group’s companies information systems by the end of the year.
 
 
Source : communiqué de presse