Van de Velde, a leading player in the luxury and fashionable women’s lingerie sector, has announced the company’s financial results for the first half year 2014 that show significantly lower profits than in the same period last year.

The company saw its first-half net profit plummet by 74.9%, due to declines at its Intimacy brand. Net profit amounted to EUR 5 million, compared to EUR 19.9 million for the same period last year.

A fall in retail turnover at Intimacy constituted 22.7% (14.1% on a like-for-like basis) in local currency.

Turnover developments

Consolidated turnover at Van de Velde in the first half of 2014, meanwhile, rose by 10.3% from EUR 97 million to EUR 107 million.

The growth in wholesale turnover by 13.8% was driven by the successful launch of PrimaDonna Swim and the strong growth in lingerie. Follow-up orders in the first half of the year were also higher than during the same period in the previous year.

In continental Europe retail turnover at Rigby & Peller rose by 12.6%, especially due to strong like-for-like growth in Germany (18.9%). Retail’s footprint is increasingly concentrated on Northern Europe (openings in Denmark, franchising in the Netherlands, closures in France and Spain). Retail turnover at Rigby & Peller in the United Kingdom rose by 9.1% in local currency.

Retail turnover at the former Donker stores contributed EUR 2.4 million, compared with EUR 1.3 million for April-June 2013.

EBITDA

REBITDA (EUR 34.2m) for the first half year increased by 20.5% and exceeds the record year 2011. On a comparable basis (not taking into account early deliveries of the collection for the second half of the year), consolidated REBITDA (EUR 32.3m) rose by 19.2%.

The company outlined several most important reasons for this rise, which included a rise in wholesale turnover, an increase in gross margin of about 0.5%, no increase in fixed costs, except for sales-driving costs, and an increased REBITDA in the retail business of all chains, except for a substantial decrease at Intimacy.

Prospects

In wholesale, pre-orders for Autumn/Winter 2014 are higher than the previous year. This rise is naturally lower than in the first half year because of the absence of the swimwear factor, the company reports. However, Van de Velde expects a strong rise in wholesale over the whole year 2014.

Van de Velde also expects a strong rise in REBITDA for the whole year 2014, but, relatively speaking this rise will be lower than the interim rise. Both turnover and REBITDA rose by an exceptionally high degree in the first half-year.

www.vandevelde.eu