euro adhoc: ESCADA AG
quarterly or semiannual financial statement
ESCADA
Group's performance for 1st Quarter 2007/2008 weak as expected
Disclosure announcement transmitted by euro adhoc. The issuer is responsible for the content of this announcement.
3-month report
29.02.2008
Munich, February 29, 2008 - As expected and already communicated, ESCADA Group recorded a weak performance in the first quarter of fiscal year 2007/2008 (reporting date: January 31). Sales of the women's luxury fashion manufacturer totaled 142.1 million Euros, a drop of 11.8% on the same period of last year (161.2 million Euros). Currency-adjusted the minus came to 9.1%. Operative earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) came to 6.8 million Euros (2006/2007: 21.6 million Euros; -68.5%) Consolidated earnings after taxes and minority interests came to -3.9 million Euros (Q1 2006/2007: 6.9 million Euros).
Next to the effects from foreign currency translation, the first three months business performance was affected above all by the well documented weak response to the Fall/Winter collections 2007, which had already started to impact the Group negatively in Q4 2006/2007. In addition, the first quarter was affected by delivery shifts of strong product groups for the Spring/Summer collections 2008 into the second quarter. Another factor was the launch of the new Cruise collection for ESCADA Sport, which has been already shipped at the end of the fourth quarter 2006/2007. The PRIMERA business unit also recorded an unsatisfactory operative business performance, especially at apriori and BiBA, which were both affected by weak response to their Fall/Winter collections 2007.
The ESCADA business unit generated sales of 96.6 million Euros in the first quarter (Q1 2006/2007: 111.5 million Euros, -13.4%, currency adjusted: -9.4%). EBITDA totaled at 5.6 million Euros (Q1 2006/2007: 16.0 million Euros). The PRIMERA business units (with the brands apriori, BiBA, cavita, Laurèl) saw sales down by 7.9% to 52.2 million Euros (Q1 2006/2007: 56.7 million Euros) with EBITDA at 1.2 million Euros (Q1 2006/2007: 5.6 million Euros).
For the full fiscal year the Board of Management confirms its forecast of December 20, 2007 and is targeting growth rates in the lower single-digit percentage range for consolidated sales and Group EBITDA as well as a positive result after taxes. This estimate is based on a moderate business performance during the first six months and a more dynamic development in the second half of the year given a 7% increase in order intakes for the Fall/Winter collections 2008 year-on-year. The outlook is based on the assumption that the economic environment does not deteriorate significantly.
end of announcement euro adhoc
Further inquiry note:
Viona Brandt
Phone: +49 - 89 - 99 44 13 36
viona.brandt@de.escada.com
Branche: Clothing
ISIN: DE0005692107
WKN: 569210
Index: SDAX, CDAX, Classic All Share, Prime All Share
Börsen: Börse Frankfurt / regulated dealing/prime standard
Börse Berlin / free trade
Börse Hamburg / free trade
Börse Stuttgart / free trade
Börse Düsseldorf / free trade
Börse München / regulated dealing