Ferragamo sales stagnate in Q3 amid China, U.S. weakness

Sales at Salvatore Ferragamo stagnated in the third quarter as softer consumer spending in China and fewer tourists travelling to the United Stated hit the Italian luxury group.

Ferragamo said revenues totalled 298 million euros in the three months between July and September, a touch below a Thomson Reuters SmartEstimate of 304 million euros and in line with the previous year. At constant currencies, sales fell 1 percent.

Asia Pacific, which is the biggest market for the Florentine shoemaker, saw a 5 percent decline in sales in the first nine months of the year when stripping out currency moves.

Ferragamo said trends in Hong Kong deteriorated further in the third quarter. By contrast, Japan saw a strong performance in the same period also thanks to Chinese tourists.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) stood at 53 million euros in July-September, or 17.7 percent of sales. Analysts had looked for an EBITDA of 58 million euros, according to Thomson Reuters SmartEstimate.

Like-for-like sales at Ferragamo's own retail network, which account for 60 percent of group sales, fell 2 percent in the first nine months due to a weak third quarter after a flat first half.