Valentino sales increase 15 percent in 2022

Italian luxury giant Valentino reportedly increased sales by 15 percent in 2022 as it reduced its wholesale activity to refocus on its directly operated business.

The Rome-based fashion house made sales of 1.42 billion euros in the 12 months to December 31, up from the 1.23 billion euros it posted in 2021, according to figures seen by WWD. At constant exchange rates, sales were up 10 percent year-on-year.

The company’s EBITDA came in at 337 million euros, up 18 percent compared to the prior year, while operating profit increased 30 percent to 121 million euros.

“After years of single-digit growth, we succeeded in going beyond,” chief executive officer Jacopo Venturini said, according to WWD.

Streamlined wholesale business

Breaking it down by channel, sales at the company’s directly operated stores network, including e-commerce, jumped 21 percent, while wholesale sales fell 6 percent.

Venturini said the results were “fully in line with our strategy of rebalancing wholesale versus retail by increasingly reducing the wholesale activity to focus only on working with selected partners that reflect our brand values and sustain our business strategy and vision”.

Sales from directly operated retail comprised 62 percent of overall sales in 2022 compared to 54 percent in 2019, prior to the pandemic.

Currently, retail makes up 67 percent of the brand’s sales, with a goal to increase that figure to 80 percent by 2025 or 2026.

The company opened 24 stores last year and relocated seven. This year, the brand aims to open 23 directly operated stores and relocate 15.