GERRY WEBER intends to expand & refine its online shop

25 Jun '08

5 min read

GERRY WEBER International AG continued its impressive performance in the first half of 2007/2008, marking new records in sales and earnings. The fashion and lifestyle company generated sales of EUR 268.5 million in the first half of 2007/2008, which represented an increase of 13.4 percent on the previous year's EUR 236.7 million. All earnings figures increased at a disproportionate rate.

“We once more accelerated our fast pace of growth and boosted our sales and earnings growth rates as compared to the previous year”, said CEO Gerhard Weber. “This performance once again demonstrated our excellent business trend.” The 13.5 percent rise in incoming orders for the three collections of the autumn/winter season 2008/2009 suggests that a new sales record will be reached also for the year as a whole.

First-half earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) increased from EUR 25.3 million in the previous year to EUR 31.7 million in the current fiscal year, which represents an increase of 25.4 percent. Earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) climbed 24.9 percent from EUR 20.8 million to EUR 26.0 million.

At EUR 23.1 million, earnings before tax (EBT) were up 24.0 percent on the previous year's EUR 18.6 million. The respective margins increased accordingly. Net profit for the period soared 49.2 percent from EUR 10.7 million to EUR 15.9 million.

DVFA earnings per share rose from EUR 0.45 to EUR 0.69. The strong increase in profitability is attributable to the GERRY WEBER Group's unique market positioning, which, in turn, is the result of the company's optimised processes, its cost-efficient procurement structures and its flexible distribution system. It is also due to the fact that GERRY WEBER enables its retail customers to achieve the best possible results.

GERRY WEBER is the No. 1 in sell-through ratios and margins in the ladieswear retail sector. This enables retailers to generate profits and encourages them to make more and more space available to the company. The GERRY WEBER Group also benefited from Germany's corporate income tax reform.

Growth was again driven primarily by the company's own retail activities and the GERRY WEBER core brand. At EUR 235.0 million, brand sales in the first half of 2007/2008 were up 12.8 percent on the previous year's EUR 208.3 million. The GERRY WEBER core brand generated revenues in an amount of EUR 173.3 million, up 17.4 percent on the previous year's EUR 147.6 million. Contributing 73.7 percent to total sales, the brand underlined its importance for the Group.

GERRY WEBER is one of the strongest brands in the German fashion retail sector and scores name awareness ratings of roughly 80 percent with women aged 30 to 64. The success of the core brand is not least attributable to the two sublabels, GERRY WEBER EDITION and G.W.

The GERRY WEBER EDITION single-item line achieved a 33.2 percent revenue increase from EUR 37.0million in the previous year to EUR 49.3 million in the first six months of 2007/2008. Sales of the aggressively priced G.W. label rose by 42.2 percent from EUR 6.4 million to EUR 9.1 million.

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