Positive firs half for Armani
The Armani Group has announced preliminary results for the first half of 2005, which show another industry leading performance with consolidated net revenues rising +8% at current exchange rates (+10% at constant exchange rates) to Euro 697 million and Ebit increasing +10% to Euro 97 million, compared with the first half of 2004.
Worldwide sales through the Group's direct controlled stores have grown by +13% in the six month period, with Greater China showing the greatest increase at +38%.
Giorgio Armani, Chairman and Chief Executive of Giorgio Armani SpA, said: 'These results once again place the Armani Group among the industry's leading performers and provide the foundation for another year of strong growth, providing a fitting backdrop for the company's thirtieth anniversary celebrations. I am particularly pleased with the success we are having in Greater China, where we will have 21 stores open by the end of 2005 and 30 stores by the end of 2007, and with the dynamic growth we are now seeing in both our accessories and home furnishings businesses, both of which have been priorities in our programme of investments over the last five years. It is also notable that sales of our Giorgio Armani and Emporio Armani eyewear collections for Spring Summer 2006 are showing an average increase of 15%, following the successful repositioning of this business that we have undertaken with our new licensee Safilo over the last two years'.
Mr. Armani continued: 'We are now moving forward quickly with Emaar Properties on the development of the first two hotels under our recently announced agreement, which will open simultaneously in Milan and Dubai in early 2008. The Group has also recently completed two significant real estate transactions with the signing of a lease agreement for a new signature building in Tokyo's Ginza district, which will house a flagship Giorgio Armani retail store and new corporate offices for Giorgio Armani Japan; and, the acquisition of a second building on Milan's Via Bergognone to facilitate the expansion of the Group's headquarters. In short, the various strategic initiatives that we have implemented in the last several years to develop Giorgio Armani into a fully diversified worldwide fashion and lifestyle brand are now all moving ahead strongly'.
