Esprit’s first-half sales have fallen, with the German apparel brand recording a revenue decline of 13.6% to €426.9 million ($444.8 million) for the six months to September 30. This marks a continuation of the sales decline seen over the past few years, with Esprit having reported a 12.4% drop in sales in its 2022 fiscal year..
Despite the challenging trading conditions and a sharp rise in costs across the board, Esprit said it remained on track to achieve its medium-term financial targets, set out in its ‘Esprit 2025’ strategy..
In the first half of its financial year, Esprit saw sales drop in all regions, with the exception of Asia-Pacific, where there was growth of 19.5% to €24.1 million ($25 million). The brand’s largest market, Europe Middle East and Africa (EMEA), saw sales fall by 0.4% to €233.2 million ($242.4 million), with Germany, Austria and Switzerland all posting declines. In the Americas, sales dropped by 23.2% to €103.5 million ($107.8 million) and in the Rest of the World, which includes Russia, sales decreased by 38.9% to €66.1 million ($68.8 million)..
Esprit attributed the overall sales decline to several factors, including the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and the resulting supply chain disruptions and inflationary pressures..
The brand said that it had been forced to increase prices in order to offset the rising costs of raw materials, production and logistics..
