Italian shoemaker Geox SpA's sales rose 4.1% in the third quarter to €310.0 million ($419 mm). Net earnings increased 4.2% to €34.5 million ($47 mm).
For the nine months, net profit fell 19% to €72.4 million ($99 mm). Revenues dropped 5.6% to €736.5 million ($1.05 bn). Footwear revenues in the nine months dropped 5.6% to €736.5 million ($995 mm). Apparel sales rose 12.9% to €98 million ($132 mm).
North America revenues slid 4.2% to €43.0 million ($58 mm) in the nine months and were down 13.3% in constant exchange rates. Sales declined 4.3% to €284.3 million ($384 mm) in Italy, were down 8.5% to €316.7 million ($428 mm) in other European countries, and were flat at €92.5 million ($125 mm) in Rest of World.
Gross margins eroded to 48.8% of sales from 50.6% last year due to higher promotions. Operating costs also grew due to the cost of operating additional owned stores, higher depreciation due to store investments, and greater advertising costs.
Comparable-store sales at Geox owned-retail stores were up 6% in the nine months. As of Sept. 30, it had 1,033 Geox shops worldwide, including 251 owned-directly by Geox and the rest franchised. During the nine months, 89 new Geox shops were opened and 64 were closed. Flagships opened during the nine months were in Milan, Turin, Vienna, Madrid and Barcelona. In North America, net store count was reduced to 51 from 60 in the year-ago period.
