SMCP Q4 sales reach pre-Covid levels

Premium fashion group SMCP continues to recover from the pandemic as its fourth-quarter sales returned to 2019 levels and its full-year sales exceeded 1 billion euros.

The French group, whose portfolio includes brands Sandro, Maje, Claudie Pierlot and De Fursac, reported Q4 sales of 313.5 million euros, a 22.1 percent increase from a year earlier on an organic basis.

Breaking it down by market, the strongest sales growth was seen in EMEA, up 46.2 percent to 89.9 million euros, followed by the Americas, up 41.6 percent to 45.7 million euros, and its biggest market of France, up 24.7 percent to 110.8 million euros.

Sales in the APAC market fell 10.5 percent to 67.2 million euros.

Full-year sales still behind 2019 levels

For the full year, SMCP reported sales of 1.038 billion euros, up 18.7 percent on an organic basis compared to 2020 levels, but still 9.7 percent below 2019 levels, as the pandemic continued to impact the business.

Sales momentum during the year was driven by the APAC region with Mainland China growing 15.2 percent compared to 2019 levels, and the Americas up 5.5 percent on 2019 levels.

The strong sales combined with a full-price strategy helped SMCP significantly improve its bottom line.

Full-year adjusted EBIT increased to 95.3 million euros from 7 million euros a year earlier, while net income came in at 23.6 million euros from a loss of 102.2 million euros a year earlier.

SMCP chief executive Isabelle Guichot said in a statement: “Despite uncertain market conditions, we have been able to significantly improve our profitability and generate a record level of free cash flow, thanks to our financial discipline, despite our strong ambitions in terms of investments, particularly in digital marketing.”

Looking ahead at the current year, SMCP expects solid double-digit sales growth compared to 2021 levels, or mid-single-digit sales growth compared to 2019 levels. It expects adjusted EBIT to be at least in line with 2021.

The group also revealed Wednesday it is putting its deliveries to Russia on hold following the country’s invasion of Ukraine.

It said: “Sales in Russia and Ukraine are made through distribution agreements with local operators and represent a marginal part of the group's revenues (less than 1 percent of total revenues). The decision to close stores, even temporarily, is not under the group’s control. However, deliveries to Russia are currently suspended.”