Moncler S.p.A. grew faster in the Americas in the first quarter than any other region of the world thanks to rapid growth in United States and Canada, where the company plans to open more of its own mono-branded stores this year.
The Italian maker of luxury ski and outerwear said its sales in the Americas reached €26.2 million in the first quarter ended March 31, up 85 percent from a year earlier, or 61 percent in current-neutral (c-n) terms thanks to strong growth in both its Retail and Wholesale channels in the United States and Canada. In the United States, Moncler sells through eight owned stores, finer departments stores such as Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom and Saks and high end ski and fashion shops.
In its native Italy, Moncler's sales grew 7 percent. Sales grew 19 percent in EMEA excluding Italy and 48 percent is Asia & Rest of World in currency-neutral terms.
Global Retail revenues grew 69 percent (54 percent c-n) to €138.1 million as comparable store sales grew 25 percent thanks largely to strong January and February results. Moncler owned 151 mono-branded stores at quarter's end, up from 134 a year earlier due largely to its transition to a 51/49 percent joint venture in Korea, which resulted in it gaining controlling ownership of 12 stores. Moncler's store count in the Americas was unchanged at 14, but the company said it plans to focus its retail expansion efforts on North America, Japan and Southeast Asia in the current fiscal year.
Wholesale revenues declined 2 percent (-1 percent c-n) to €62.9 million during the quarter due entirely to the shift in Korea.
Gross margin increased 150 basis points to 73.8 percent due to its retail expansion, while SG&A was flat at 37.8 percent. Net income rose 69 percent to €39.6 million.
