Gucci owner Kering has suffered a fresh blow as sales slumped over the first three months of the year.
Sales at the French luxury fashion giant, which also owns Yves Saint Laurent, fell 14 per cent to £3.3billion year-on-year, driven by Gucci sales tumbling 25 per cent to £1.4billion – a figure blamed on ‘low store traffic’.
The industry, languishing after a slowdown in demand, is reeling from Donald Trump’s trade war. Chief financial officer Armelle Poulou said Kering would ‘most likely adopt a careful, gradual approach’ of price rises to offset tariffs.
And the group’s leader, billionaire Francois-Henri Pinault vowed: ‘I am convinced that we will come out stronger.’
Kering has struggled to compete with rivals such as LVMH and Hermes, whose pricey products are seen as status symbols.
Shares have lost around half their value in a year – it is one of the worst-performing luxury goods stocks.
Fashion crisis: Sales at Kering, led by billionaire Francois-Henri Pinault (pictured with actress Salma Hayek) fell 14% to £3.3bn year-on-year
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