Prada revenues rise despite struggles in Americas

By Elisa Anzolin

MILAN (Reuters) -Italian fashion group Prada reported a 10% rise in third quarter revenues on Tuesday as a strong performance in Asia and Europe helped to compensate for weakness in the Americas.

The revenue growth came in just ahead of analysts' expectations of a 9.3% rise, according to a consensus cited by Jefferies.

For the first nine months of the year net revenues totalled 3.34 billion euros ($3.6 billion), up 17% at constant exchange rates, with the ready-to-wear category showing the fastest growth and the Miu Miu brand also expanding rapidly.

"We continue to see positive momentum in the business and strong excitement around our brands, positioning us well for Q4 and vis-à-vis our ambition to deliver solid, sustainable, and above-market growth in 2023," Chief Executive Andrea Guerra said.

Guerra told a subsequent conference call that he was also happy with the way October had gone, noting that November and December were more important months for business.

TOUGH MARKET IN AMERICAS

Prada's rivals in the luxury sector such as Kering, owner of the Gucci brand, have also been hit by slowing demand for fashion and accessories, particularly in the United States and Europe.

The Americas region was a weak spot for Prada where retail sales fell 1.3% over the nine months, offset by double digit growth in the Asia Pacific, Japan and European markets.

Guerra said Prada and Miu Miu had raised prices by 4-6% this year and that trend was likely to be similar in 2024.

He added the company was aware of tensions in major cities in recent weeks linked to the conflict between Hamas and Israel but that had not translated into a major impact on business.

"For sure, in some cities of the world, in the past weeks we have seen a little bit more tension driven by macro, geo-political happenings. But I would say that so far we have not seen basic differences," he said.

Prada, whose brands also include classic English shoemaker Church's, is listed on the Hong Kong stock market and released its figures after the market closed on Tuesday.

($1 = 0.9379 euros)

(Reporting by Elisa AnzolinWriting by Keith WeirEditing by Mark Potter)