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This latest development in the luxury goods earnings season, which will continue on the evening of July 24 with the publication of LVMH’s results, followed by Kering on July 29 and Herm\u00e8s and Prada on July 30, does not bode well.<\/p>\n
The Italian group Moncler slowed down in the second quarter of 2025<\/b>.<\/p>\n
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While the owner of the eponymous brand and Stone Island<\/b> ended its first quarter with a 1% increase in revenue to \u20ac829 million, this fell by 1% at current exchange rates to \u20ac396.6 million in the second quarter<\/b>. Analysts had hoped for better, at \u20ac402.1 million, according to a survey conducted by Visible Alpha.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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For the first half of the year<\/b>, however, the Moncler group maintained slight growth of 1% at current exchange rates to \u20ac1.23 billion<\/b> ($1.41 billion). This is in line with the consensus of analysts provided by the company and is respectable in the current context<\/b>, which is complicated for luxury consumption, with both a decline in tourist flows and local consumer demand.<\/p>\n
For its part, operating profit<\/b>, impacted by a concentration of marketing expenses, fell sharply by 13%<\/b> to \u20ac225 million. However, this is slightly better than analysts had expected. Half-year net profit<\/b> itself fell by 15%<\/b> to \u20ac153.5 million.<\/p>\n
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\u201cThe first half of the year reminded us once again how unpredictable and complex the world can be,\u201d said CEO Remo Ruffini.<\/p>\n
The group’s poor performance in the first half of the year was mainly due to the Stone Island clothing brand, whose sales fell by 1%<\/b> cFX to \u20ac186.7 million, despite a 6% rebound in the second quarter<\/b>.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, sales of<\/b> the Moncler down jacket brand rose 1%<\/b> cFX to \u20ac1.04 billion in the first six months of the year. However, it is performing differently from Stone Island, with a weak second quarter (-2%)<\/b> due to the slowdown in its Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) channel, particularly in Japan and the EMEA region.<\/p>\n
Geographically, the two brands’ performances are uneven.<\/p>\n
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The Moncler brand continued to show resilience in two major markets currently under pressure for luxury goods, namely Asia, with a 4% increase in cFX revenue, and to a lesser extent, the Americas (+1%).<\/p>\n
In contrast, it declined by 3% in the EMEA<\/b> (Europe, Middle East, Africa) region.<\/p>\n
Its performance in the United States was driven by the B2C channel, particularly Moncler’s New York store on Fifth Avenue, said Roberto Eggs, Moncler’s chief commercial officer<\/b>, during the earnings conference call.<\/p>\n
For its part, Stone Island saw sales soar in Asia with a 14% increase<\/b>, but plummeted in the Americas (-15%), with the EMEA region<\/b> down 5%.<\/b><\/p>\n
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Overall, the Direct to Consumer (DTC) channel continued to gain momentum for both brands<\/b>. Moncler’s sales grew by 2%<\/b> in the first half of the year and now account for 84% of the brand’s total sales<\/b>, while Stone Island’s sales grew by 8% to 49% of sales<\/b>.<\/p>\n
During the second quarter, the group continued its expansion in retail, with new openings in South Coast Plaza (United States), Sydney Westfield (Australia) and Hangzhou (China). At the end of June, it had 287 stores and 54 wholesale stores.<\/p>\n
In contrast, the wholesale channel declined by 6% at Moncler and 9% at Stone Island.<\/b><\/p>\n
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\u201cAt the start of the second half of 2025, uncertainty remains high on the global geopolitical and economic front<\/b>,\u201d Moncler said in a statement.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe group will continue to operate with consistency and resilience\u201d and \u201cfocus on operational agility, while investing steadily in its organization, talent, and distinctive brands,\u201d said Remo Ruffini, the group’s CEO.<\/b> The company is therefore expecting net investments of around 7% of annual revenue.<\/p>\n
The main question mark<\/b> for the global economy in general, and the luxury sector in particular, is of course the future \u201creciprocal\u201d tariffs that will be announced on August 1 by Donald Trump<\/b> to third countries.<\/p>\n
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In recent months, luxury players have been facing the new situation with varying degrees of resilience.<\/p>\n
Swiss jewelry and watchmaker Richemont has just announced an increase in sales for the first fiscal quarter, and Italian cashmere specialist Brunello Cucinelli has reported very strong half-year results.<\/p>\n
However, experts also expect a further decline in quarterly sales for LVMH and Kering, while Herm\u00e8s and Prada are expected to remain resilient.<\/p>\n
The stock market responded moderately to Moncler’s performance. While its share price closed up 1.2% on July 23<\/b>, the day its results were published, it was down 3.31% the following day<\/b> at midday.<\/p>\n
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