Hugo Boss raised its 2010 outlook as its growing retail business and a Chinese joint venture helped it post consensus-beating third-quarter operating profit.
The luxury clothing maker said today it now sees 2010 earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) growing about 20 per cent, with 5 per cent sales growth on a currency-adjusted basis.
Previously, it had expected 10-12 per cent operating profit growth, with sales up 3-5 per cent from a year earlier.
In the third quarter, EBITDA jumped 42 per cent to €150 million, Hugo Boss said as it published key figures ahead of schedule. The company is due to report full quarterly results on November 2nd.
Chief executive Claus-Dietrich Lahrs said last week luxury markets might recover much faster than expected, helped by demand from Asia, especially China. He had confirmed the company's full-year outlook at that time.
China is now the world's number two luxury goods market, with sales up 12 per cent in 2009 to $9.6 billion, accounting for 27.5 per cent of the global market, according to Bain & Co. The figure is expected to grow further to $14.6 billion in the next five years, making it the world's top luxury market.
Reuters