Geox lowers 2023 sales guidance after setback in May
27/07/2023 18:01
July 27 (Reuters) - Italian shoemaker Geox GEO.MI on
Thursday cut its 2023 sales guidance after revenues grew only
slowly in the first half of the year due to unseasonal weather
in May and inflation in key markets.
The group, with a presence in 110 countries, now expects
sales to grow between 4% and 6% compared to 2022, down from
previous guidance of 6-8%, it said in a statement.
Its revenues in the first six months of 2023 were up 4% to
353.6 million euros ($388.8 million), from 340.6 million in the
same period the year before. The positive trend was interupted
by an 8% like-for-like decrease in May sales, the group said.
Sales in Russia and Ukraine, which together account for
about 10% of the group's total, were in line with plans at about
37 million euros despite the weakening of the ruble, the firm
said.
Geox however improved its guidance on gross margin to a
yearly increase of between 220 and 240 base points in the full
year, expecting cost pressures to ease.
"There is room for improvement in the supply chain as we're
really experiencing a reduction in transportation costs," the
group's chief executive Livio Libralesso told analysts.
Brokerage Banca Akros had noted ahead of the results that
while forecasts are likely on the optimistic side, "we remain of
the idea that GEOX is in a relaunch mode".
($1 = 0.9094 euros)
(Reporting by Alessandro Parodi, editing by Keith Weir)
((Alessandro.Parodi@thomsonreuters.com;))