“We look back on an excellent start to the year, as we further accelerated brand momentum around the globe. Following our strong performance in the first quarter, we remain all the more confident in the continued success of ‘CLAIM 5’. We will make 2023 yet another record-breaking year for our Company, as we aim to achieve our mid-term sales target of 4 billion euros already this year, thus significantly earlier than expected”, commented Daniel Grieder, Chief Executive Officer of Hugo Boss.

First Quarter Results

In the first quarter of the current fiscal year, the company's sales amounted to 968 million euros, reflecting an increase of 25% in both currency-adjusted and group currency, on a comparable basis to the same period of last year. Hugo Boss highlighted that its revenue “once again strongly exceeded pre-pandemic levels” (by 44% currency-adjusted).

In the EMEA region, Hugo Boss's currency-adjusted revenue grew by 21% year-over-year in the first quarter of 2023, driven by strong performances in Germany (up by 28%) and French (up by 17%) markets, as well as in the Middle East. In the Americas region, the group's currency-adjusted revenue rose by 38% in this period, which included the “ongoing robust momentum in the US market across channels, with currency-adjusted sales up 31% overall”.

Meanwhile, in the Asia-Pacific region, currency-adjusted revenue increased by 31% due to “sustained double-digit improvements in Southeast Asia & Pacific”, as well as a significant uptick in consumer confidence in China following the reopening of the market at the end of 2022.

In the first quarter of 2023, Hugo Boss generated an operating profit (EBIT) of 65 million euros, which indicates growth of 63%, as compared to the same period of last year. As a result, the group's EBIT margin increased by 160 basis points to 6.7%.

The company's net income totalled 38 million euros in the three months to the 31^st of March, increasing by 45% on a comparable basis to the same quarter of 2022.

Full Year Outlook

Considering its first quarter performance, Hugo Boss raised its top-and-bottom-line outlook for fiscal 2023. So, “while taking into account persistently high macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainties”, it now expects a full year sales increase of 10% to 4 billion euros (prior: increase at a mid-single-digit percentage rate), “with all regions set to contribute to growth”. Moreover, EBIT in 2023 should now increase within a range of 10% to 20% to between 370 million euros and 400 million euros (prior: increase within a range of +5% to +12% to an amount of between 350 million euros and 375 million euros).