Gerry Weber sales slump but losses narrow

Gerry Weber has reported a drop in sales yet narrowing losses for the first half of the year after the company was impacted both by the Covid-19 pandemic and its ongoing restructuring.

Group sales for the six months fell 43.3 percent to 140.5 million euros, compared to 247.7 million euros in the prior-year period. The company estimated that Covid-19 caused a 57 million euro hit to its revenue. Gross profit decreased from 141.3 million euros to 81.6 million euros.

Almost all its points of sale were closed from mid-March 2020, though all stores have been reopened as of mid-May 2020. Since then, the company said footfall is still below pre-Covid levels. However, conversion rate, sales per customer and revenues in the online segment have been rising continuously in recent weeks.

The German womenswear brand also noted that a comparison between the first half of 2020 and the first half of 2019 was possible only to a limited extent due to the fact it underwent insolvency proceedings this year.

The company said it “significantly restructured its business” during and after the proceedings, closing 210 company-managed points of sale in Germany and abroad, as well 207 franchised wholesale spaces. “Naturally, the store closures and space losses had a massive impact on revenues in the reporting period,” the company said.

The company managed to considerably narrow its consolidated net loss in the period to 34.2 million euros, compared to 144.1 million in the prior year, citing lower depreciations and successful restructuring measures.

It said it still expects revenues for 2020 to be between 260 million and 280 million euros.

Photo credit: Gerry Weber, Facebook