Prada 1st Half Net Profit Falls, Says Growth May Take Longer Than Thought

   By Sonia Amaral Rohter

Prada SpA (1913.HK) on Friday reported a decline in first-half net revenue and net profit and said its return to growth might take longer than expected.

The Italian luxury fashion house reported net profit of 116 million euros ($138.9 million) for the six months ended July 31. Prada didn't provide a comparative figure for the first half of last year, but at the time reported a net profit of EUR141.9 million. Net revenue for the first half fell 5.5% to EUR1.47 billion.

"We are confident that our action plan is the best way to return to steady growth in revenues and margins, albeit aware that benefits may take longer than expected," said Patrizio Bertelli, Prada's chief executive.

Net revenue for Europe, Prada's largest market last year, fell 7.7%--in part because of the strong euro, said the company. Net revenue for the Asia Pacific region rose 0.4%. Last year these two regions accounted for more than two-thirds of net sales.

Sales in Europe and Asia Pacific have been weak in recent years, partly due to the adverse effect of terrorism on European tourism and a pull-back in luxury spending in China. While the company had said some of these effects had started to reverse toward the end of the fiscal year that ended January 31, revenue for the first half of the current year was down across all regions.

Write to Sonia Amaral Rohter at sonia.amaralrohter@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 08, 2017 09:37 ET (13:37 GMT)

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