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Spending on wane at Gucci owner PPR
Rosamund Urwin19.02.09
GUCCI Group's owner today confirmed that spending is going out of fashion.
French retail giant PPR, which also owns British designer labels Stella McCartney and Alexander McQueen, said it would reduce costs after sales dipped in the final three months of last year.
Group like-for-like sales fell 1.5% in the quarter as the economic crisis put off shoppers. Full-year operating profits fell by a fifth on the previous year to €1.36 billion (£1.2 billion).
At Gucci Group, comparable quarterly sales were flat. But PPR's shares jumped 5% in Paris as analysts had feared the downturn would have taken a bigger toll.
Chief executive and chairman François-Henri Pinault said the results were "satisfactory", and proved PPR's "ability to respond and adapt to profound changes in the environment".
He added that trading had picked up slightly in January. The group said yesterday that it was axing 1200 jobs.
