BasicNet sees net profit soar in Q1

By

Dominique Muret

Published
Apr 29, 2015

BasicNet has started off 2015 with a bang. In the first three months of the year, the Turin-based group, whose brand portfolio includes Kappa, Robe di Kappa, Superga, K-Way, Lanzera, AB Besson, Jesus Jeans and Sabelt, saw its net profit jump 39.5% from 5.4 million euros on March 31, 2014 to 7.6 million one year later. Its Ebit, meanwhile, increased from 8.7 million to 10.6 million euros over the same period, the company announced in a statement.

The group's business, which has been developed through international licensing agreements for the production and marketing of its brands, has also grown. Total sales generated by BasicNet’s licensees worldwide rose by 24.78% in the first three months of the year, from 116.6 million euros one year earlier to 145 million on March 31, 2015. 

The group benefited in particular from the appreciation of the dollar against the euro, although growth on a comparable basis (+13.3%) demonstrated significant commercial development, said the company. 

Sales in non-European countries soared by 45%, while in Europe, they rose by 15.7%, added BasicNet, which highlights the intense international expansion of the group's brands. This has been evidenced, in particular, by the lightning-fast progress of Superga and K-Way, whose sales in the first three months of the year rose respectively by 67% and 33%. 

Consolidated sales, generated mostly in Italy, amounted to 38.8 million euros in Q1 2015, growing by 11% compared to the same period of 2014. As of March 31, 2015, BasicNet had 257 group brand stores in Italy. 

In February, the company concluded a partnership agreement with FCA (Fiat Chrysler Automobiles) for the creation of Visibag, a product resulting from the union of Fiat Panda and K-Way. 

The group’s financial debt was reduced to 42.9 million euros as of March 31, 2015 as compared to 52 million one year earlier.

€1 = $1.10/£0.71