When Esprit Reform Was Carried Out, Sales Performance Was Expected.

Hongkong fashion retail group Esprit Holdings Ltd (Si Jie Global Holdings Limited) recently said that by the Hongkong region's turbulent situation, the store's passenger traffic fell by more than 40%.

According to the 2018/19 financial year ending June 30, 2019, the core business data of Esprit are as follows:

Sales fell 16.3% to HK $12 billion 932 million, down 12.9% from the previous year, higher than analysts' expectations.

Gross profit of HK $6 billion 500 million, calculated by local currency, fell by 1.1% year-on-year, mainly affected by clearing stock and gross margin 50.3%.

The net loss was HK $2 billion 140 million, narrowing compared with HK $2 billion 550 million in the same period last year.

Net cash is HK $3 billion 280 million, and there is no liability on account.

Anders Kristiansen, group chief executive, said at a performance press conference that the situation was "abnormal". Despite the impact of instability in the Hongkong market, Esprit, which has been sluggish in recent years, has made some progress.

Although the loss is 16% lower than last year, it is still "huge". Although Esprit said the situation in Hongkong affected the performance of the group, only 9.5% of the group's sales came from Asia. In other words, there are also problems in the operation of the group. In May this year, when the group announced its third quarter earnings report, it pointed out that the restructuring plan has made initial progress.

Electricity supplier sales showed an increasing trend. The electricity supplier channel currently contributes 29% of the sales to the group, while the European region contributes more than 96% of the total electricity sales. Global electricity supplier sales fell 6.6% year-on-year, but according to local currency, electricity sales in the fourth quarter of the European market grew by 3.9% over the same period last year.

Group chairman of the board of directors Dr Raymond Or (Ke Qinghui) said: "last year, the group has made major changes, this is the transformation and restoration of Esprit long-term profitability of important nodes."

Dr Raymond also points out that the group has formulated clear strategic plans and has equipped the appropriate team to promote Esprit's sustainable growth and profitability. "The unremitting efforts of the team over the past few years have laid a solid foundation for our future business models, and let us see the improvement of business performance at an early stage."

The restructuring of Esprit covers "streamlining" the enterprise structure and creating a new business model to "highlight the brand, enhance products and enhance customer and brand experience, so as to regain consumer confidence and enhance market competitiveness."

Sales channels by Region:

The German market contributed 51.7% of the sales to the group, with retail sales of HK $2 billion 226 million, down 12.8% from the local currency, but with a 14.8% reduction in retail space, the sales volume was fairly good; wholesale sales fell 12.3% to HK $2 billion 200 million.

The rest of Europe contributed 38.8% of sales to the group, 8.8% of the total retail space and 7.6% of retail sales to HK $1 billion 805 million in local currency, while wholesale sales fell 15.5% to HK $1 billion 754 million over the same period.

The German market in the Asia Pacific region contributed 9.5% of sales to the group, and the total retail space decreased by 35.5%. Retail sales fell 34% to HK $1 billion 3 million in local currency terms, and wholesale and retail sales fell 12.1% to HK $99 million over the same period.

According to regional e-commerce channels:

According to local currency, European market sales fell 4.8% to HK $3 billion 597 million, accounting for 96.5% of the whole group.

According to local currency, sales in the Asia Pacific market fell 38.2% to HK $131 million compared with the same period last year, contributing 3.5% of the electricity supplier's sales.

In the future, Esprit will enhance its performance from five aspects: brand, product, wholesale channel, new organizational structure and store portfolio. In August 30th, the brand opened a new store in Beijing.

Esprit hopes that in the 2019/20 fiscal year, sales will decline in low single figures and gross margins will increase.