EANS-News: Wolford Aktiengesellschaft Mid Year Financial Report
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Strong first half year despite Covid-19: sales stabilized, earnings increased by
6 % compared to previous year, break-even 2021 within reach!
Mid Year Financial Report
Bregenz - December 23, 2020: The first six months of the new short fiscal year
2020 of the Wolford AG, listed on Vienna Stock Exchange, were strongly marked by
the impacts of the first Covid-19-related lockdown. Although stores in the EMEA
region and the USA were open again as of late April/early May (in China already
end of February), customer frequency and buying behavior did not normalize
during the reporting period by any means. Despite this, Wolford generated sales
of EUR48.17 million, in the first six months of the current fiscal year 2020
(May 2020 to December 2020), registering a drop in revenue of about 20 percent
compared to the prior-year figure of EUR60.49 million. The drop in sales of
EUR12 million compared to the same period of the previous year was lower than
planned.
Despite the decline in sales revenues, at EUR-11.28 million the previous year's
earnings before taxes (EBT) of EUR-12.03 million were exceeded by EUR1 million.
The effects of the sale of the real estate were not taken into account (EBT
incl. effects from the sale of real estate EUR30.00 million). The revenue of
EUR72 million related to the selling of Wolfordstraße 1-3 in Bregenz was used,
to fully repay the debts at the beginning of May.
Online grows by over 50%, over 630,000 Wolford Care Masks sold, cost reduction
of over 12% Success of online retail, Wolford Care Mask and the restructuring
program
Main growth driver in the reporting period was Wolford's online business with a
54 percent increase over the previous year. The revenue share of the company's
own online business and the associated online business of its wholesale partners
increased to a total of around 25 percent. The company's own retail and
wholesale business also contributed to achieve sales. Both, the Spring Summer
2020 as well as the Fall Winter 2020/21 collections, were very well received in
all channels despite the current situation. To date, a revenue of EUR9 million
has been generated through the sale of approximately 630,000 Wolford Care Masks
since the beginning of production in March 2020. As a new accessoire, the
different styles of the Wolford Care Mask have become a must-have of the Wolford
product range.
Overall, our restructuring program, PITBOLI (Program for Immediate Top and
Bottom Line Impact), is systematically delivering its intended effects on
revenue and efficiency. Therefore, the structural costs (personnel and
operational costs) were reduced by EUR7 million (12 percent) in the prior-year
period, well above target.
Going forward, the company will focus on consistently pursuing this course. As
part of it, the lines "The W" and "W lab" were successfully added to the brand
architecture, which became part of the new face of the Wolford brand. Indeed the
collaboration with adidas has significantly exceeded expectations, as well as
the launch of "The W" on the online platform Farfetch. Furthermore, a relaunch
of the Essential Collection has started, which will be implemented in the
upcoming months with targeted campaigns. With the Aurora Monogram line, which is
part of the "The W" collection, Wolford is further implementing its commitment
to sustainability. All new Aurora Styles are Cradle to Cradle Gold Certified TM.
With the goal of being the first environmentally neutral brand in the fashion
industry, Wolford is leading the way for change.
Business with e-tailers and marketplaces are also growing at double-digits
rates, expected to grow as well in the following year 2021. Wolford is expecting
further positive sales effects from the partnership with a new distributor in
Japan, as well as from the planned expansion of the omnichannel architecture.
Outlook
Despite strong half-year results, Wolford has been clearly feeling the effects
of the second wave of lockdown measures since the end of October, which have hit
retail during what is traditionally the strongest quarter, the holiday season.
The effects are expected to be felt well into the coming year. Nevertheless,
from today's perspective, Wolford still expects to be able to reach break even
in the coming year, assuming that our expectations regarding the development of
the Covid-19 pandemic remain valid. In this context, the management board has
implemented additional measures to secure liquidity on a sustainable basis.
The reported half-year results show that Wolford is on course for a successful
restructuring. Decisive is now, to ensure a stable sales development despite the
Covid-19 pandemic, to consistently continue PITBOLI and the use of the offered
governmental support services.
Further inquiry note:
Wolford AG
Madeleine Dubois
Tel: +43 5574 690
investor@wolford.com / company.wolford.com
end of announcement euro adhoc
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issuer: Wolford Aktiengesellschaft
Wolfordstrasse 1
A-6900 Bregenz
phone: +43(0) 5574 690-1258
FAX: +43(0) 5574 690-1410
mail: investor@wolford.com
WWW: http://company.wolford.com
ISIN: AT0000834007
indexes: ATX GP
stockmarkets: Wien, New York, Frankfurt
language: English
