“Over the quarter, our performance was impacted by continued volatility in the Chinese market, as well as a persisting weakness in wholesale and travel retail, further compounded by an unfavourable comparison. As the wider sector continues to normalize, we are encouraged by the exit rates we are seeing in our DTC performance - most notably in Europe, the US and Japan- as we turn to further drive our top-line performance through an increased focus on both customer engagement and communication activities around our refreshed DTC channels”, commented Marco Gobbetti, Chief Executive Officer and General Manager.

In the first quarter of the current year, Ferragamo reported a total revenue of 226.9 million euros, which represents a decline of 18.3% at current exchange rates (or 16.6% at constant exchange rates), on a comparable basis to the same period of 2023.

Distribution Channel

The DTC channel accounted for 169.7 million euros of the group’s total first quarter net sales, a decrease of 11.1% (or 7.5% at constant exchange rates), as compared to the same period of last year, mainly due to the negative performance in January and the overall weak performance in Greater China.

Meanwhile, the wholesale channel reported a sharp decline in net sales of 38.3% (or 38.6% at constant exchange rates) to 49.9 million euros compared to the same period last year, reflecting the weak environment and a tough comparison base, especially in Europe.

Geographical Area

Ferragamo’s net sales in the EMEA region totalled 49.7 million euros in the three months to the end of March, a decrease of 30.8% (or 31.0 at constant exchange rates), on a comparable basis to the first quarter of the previous year.

In North America, the group’s net sales in the first quarter were down by 10.9% (or 9.2% at constant exchange rates) on the same period last year to 60.0 million euros, “mainly impacted by a double-digit negative wholesale performance”, but with an improvement in the DTC channel during the quarter. Meanwhile, in Central and South America, net sales declined by 8.6% (or 11.0% at constant exchange rates) to 16.7 million euros.

Finally, in the Asia Pacific region, Ferragamo’s net sales in the first quarter of the year amounted to 73.2 million euros, a decrease of 19.3% (or 15.5% at constant exchange rates), on a comparable basis to the same quarter of last year. This result was driven by a “weak consumer sentiment” in Greater China and Korea, which resulted in a negative performance in both channels. In Japan, the company’s net sales were down by 15.7% (or 4.4% at constant exchange rates), reaching 20.0 million euros.

Product Category

Net sales of footwear, which represented 46.6% of Ferragamo's total net sales for the period, decreased by 18.3% (16.1% at constant exchange rates) in the first quarter of 2024 to 101.9 million euros, as compared to the same period the previous year. Leather goods, another key segment, declined by 18.5% (16.3% at constant exchange rates) to 87.8 million euros.