François-Henri Pinault, Chairman & CEO of the group, commented: “Kering delivered excellent performances in the first half and resumed its trajectory of strong, profitable growth. All our Houses contributed to a sharp rebound in total revenue, which comfortably exceeded its 2019 level, with a remarkable acceleration in the second quarter. While returning to substantial profitability and leveraging the desirability of our brands, we are stepping up the pace of our investments in our Houses and strategic initiatives, notably to enhance the exclusivity and control of our distribution. Our teams are demonstrating their agility in this fast-moving environment, and we have the right assets, resources and strategy to successfully pursue our journey”.

The luxury group reported consolidated revenue of 8.05 billion euros, up by 54.1% on a comparable basis (49.6% on a reported basis) from the first half of 2020. This performance puts Kering above the revenue levels achieved in the first six months of 2019, before the pandemic’s outbreak.

Total revenue of Kering’s Houses in these first six months of 2021 totalled 7.7 billion euros, up by 48.9% on a reported basis and up by 53.3% on a comparable basis.

Around 80% of the House’s total sales in the first half of 2021 were generated in directly operated stores, driven mainly by the momentum in North America and the Asia Pacific region. Altogether, comparable sales from the directly operated store network, including e-commerce, were 60.1% higher than in the first half of 2020 and grew by 11.2% in comparison to similar period of 2019.

Although in-store sales suffered from COVID restrictions and lockdowns (on average, 17% of the group’s stores closed in the first quarter and 13% in the second quarter), e-commerce continued to do well, with revenue growing by 78.5%, year on year. In the first six months of 2021, e-commerce represented 14% of total retail sales. Wholesale revenue increased by 29.8%, on a comparable basis, in this period.

In the first half of 2021, recurring operating income for the group’s Houses totalled 2.3 billion euros, which is more than the double of the income achieved in similar period of 2020.

Gucci remains the golden goose of Kering Group, having reached 4.5 billion euros revenue (up 45.8% as reported and 50.3% on a comparable basis), and going back to pre-pandemic levels. Yves Saint Laurent revenue totalled 1 billion euros, up by 53.5% as reported and by 58.2% on a comparable basis; and Bottega Veneta was up by 40.6% year on year as reported and 45.0% on a comparable basis. Revenue from the Group’s Other Houses recovered markedly in the first semester of 2021, at 1.5 billion euros, up by 60.5% as reported and up by 64.5% on a comparable basis.