Patrizio Bertelli, Chief Executive Officer of Prada Spa, commented: “Sales in the first half of 2015 reflect an economic and exchange rate landscape that remains rather volatile with the continuing weakness of important markets like Hong Kong and Macau and the uncertainty that is looming on other Asian markets. Our distribution structure, which has achieved an appropriate global presence, together with our awareness of the specific needs of the various markets, has enabled us to compensate for the drop in sales in Asia Pacific thanks to growth on markets which are currently more dynamic like Europe and Japan.”

The Prada group announced consolidated net revenue for the six months ended on the 31st of July as amounting to 1 823 million euros, with a 4% increase compared to the corresponding period in 2014. This performance was mainly driven by the retail channel which, according to Prada, more than compensated the decrease in the wholesale channel sales.

In fact, the sales of the wholesale channel for the same period totaled 248 million euros and were down by 14% at current exchange rates, keeping with the strategy of rationalization of the network of wholesale partners. Sales of the retail network have grown by 8% at current exchange rates standing at 1 552 million euros, benefiting from the positive effect of exchange rates accompanied by a general improvement in sales performance.

The European market has continued to grow with revenues up at both current exchange rates (12%) and constant exchange rates (11%), mainly driven by a steady flow of tourists and a recovery in consumption by domestic customers.

The Japanese market has also performed extremely well with growth at both current exchange rates (12%) and constant exchange rates (5%) with double digit growth rates achieved throughout the second quarter.

Meanwhile, the Asia Pacific market showed a negative trend, as in the first quarter of the year, offset by a positive rate exchange effect. Hong Kong and Macau remain the main drivers affecting the performance in this geographical area.

At current exchange rates, sales increased in the Americas and in the Middle East reached 15% growth in both markets.

The Prada brand has recorded 5% growth at current exchange rates which is entirely attributable to the exchange rate effect, mainly because of the adverse economic situation in the Asian market. Meanwhile, Miu Miu continues to grow with revenues up at both current exchange rates (19%) and constant exchange rates (6%), showing an acceleration in the second quarter of the year. Church’s has also achieved sales growth, 19%, with the volumes trend also remaining largely positive. Finally, Car Shoe has performed broadly in line with the prior year.