Charles Vögele's H1 income up despite shrinking clothing markets

30 Aug '05

4 min read

One of the leading European textile retailers, Charles Vögele Group announced the results for first half-year.

Despite shrinking markets, Charles Vögele Group increased its net sales by 4.4% to CHF 664.5 million in the first half of 2005. The company achieved operational improvements and increased market share across all its Sales Organizations. Net income rose from CHF 5.7 million in the previous year to CHF 33.6 million.

Attractive collections and improved image produce sales gains
Charles Vögele Group's new spring and summer collections, combined with a further improvement in image, led to an increase in net sales from CHF 636.3 million to CHF 664.5 million, a rise of 4.4%. With the clothing market as a whole shrinking last year, this meant that the company made further gains in market share.

The growth in sales, which was achieved primarily in the full-margin months, led to an improvement in the gross profit margin from 60.0% to 61.2%. Gross earnings rose 6.5% from CHF 381.8 million in the previous year to CHF 406.7 million.

Thanks to strict cost management, operating expenses boosted operating earnings (EBITDA) still further, pushing them up from CHF 54.6 million in the previous year to CHF 80.9 million. EBIT reached CHF 54.1 million, which is CHF 33.5 million better than in the previous year (2004: CHF 20.6 million). When comparing EBIT results we need to remember that the previous year's figure included a charge of CHF 7.7 million for amortization of goodwill.

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