Belgium's Van de Velde reports €96.6 mn turnover in H1 2021

The comparable wholesale turnover of the company increased by 15.8 per cent to reach €83.7 million and the retail turnover (own store network and retail sites) grew by 21.3 per cent to €12.9 million. In Europe, retail turnover increased by 16.4 per cent and in the US by 64 per cent. The stronger results in the United States reflect that there were no lockdowns in 2021 compared to prolonged lockdowns in 2020, the company said in a media release.

In the first half of this year, in many European countries, the company was confronted with a prolonged lockdown and shop restrictions due to COVID-19. Despite the impact of this, it witnessed a strong growth in the first half of the year. Lingerie sales recovered very strongly and almost reached the level of the first half of 2019, however, swim sales has not yet recovered due to the many restrictions and uncertainties related to travel in spring 2021 and to high stock levels with retail partners.

The strong 360° marketing support ensures an optichannel consumer experience across the different channels. In addition to that the improved digital platforms strongly stimulate sales. The various campaigns have had a positive impact across all channels, both offline and online. Retail partners with locations outside shopping centres or shopping streets and with a strong digital focus grew faster.

The company has decided to limit its owned and operated retail activities in the US to three stores where it will continue to strive for excellent consumer experience. These three stores contribute to a positive result.

On a comparable basis (including comparable seasonal deliveries), consolidated EBITDA for the first half of 2021 increased by 30.6 per cent, from €22.3 million during the first half of 2020 to €29.1 million in H1 2021. The EBITDA on a non-comparable basis increased during the first half of 2021 by 82.6 percent from €16.3 million during the first half of 2020 to €29.8 million.

The EBITDA on a comparable basis amounts to 30.1 per cent of the turnover compared to 26.8 per cent during the first half of 2020. The main reason for this evolution is the 16.5 per cent increase in turnover. Furthermore, there is a positive price effect due to a better mix and there is an improvement in production efficiency.

The financial result during the first half of 2021 amounts to -€0.8 million compared to €0.2 million during the first half of 2020.

In the first half of 2021, the group profit ended at €18.2 million, compared to €5 million in the first half of 2020.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (KD)