"I'm excited to be part of this iconic brand, built on an exceptional heritage of creativity, craftsmanship and human values. In spite of the enduring pandemic and the conflict in Ukraine, in this first quarter we delivered good growth of revenues and operational margin. Notwithstanding the rising geopolitical and economic volatility, we expect to increase our revenues for the current year, and today we are laying out the drivers to accelerate growth and realize the potential of Ferragamo", commented Marco Gobbetti, Chief Executive Officer and General Manager of Salvatore Ferragamo.

As of the 31^st of March, Ferragamo’s revenue totalled 289 million euros, reflecting a rise of 23.2% (of 20.6% at constant exchange rates), on a comparable basis to revenue of 235 million euros reported in the first quarter of 2021. Operating profit (EBIT) was positive at 21 million euros, as compared to 7 million euros in similar period of the prior year.

Distribution Channel

In the first quarter of 2022, the retail distribution channel consolidated revenue increased by 15.8% (by 12.1% at constant exchange rates), as compared to the same period last year. The wholesale channel revenue grew by 40.2% (by 41% at constant exchange rates) in this period, as compared to the first quarter of fiscal 2021.

Geographical Area

In the first three months of the year, the Asia Pacific region recorded a revenue increase of 0.9% (down by 2.0% at constant exchange rates), due to the "resilience of the pandemic COVID-19, in particular in China", and revenue in the Japanese market was up by 17.7% (by 20.9% at constant exchange rates), on a comparable basis to similar period of the prior year.

The luxury group registered a revenue growth of 41.3% (by 45.0% at constant exchange rates) in the EMEA region, as compared to the first quarter of the previous year. Revenue rose by 46.1% (by 39.8% at constant exchange rates) in North America and by 52.3% (by 42.5% at constant exchange rates) in Central and South America, on a comparable basis to the same quarter of 2021.

Product Category

In the three months to the 31^st of March, all main product categories reported a significant increase, with shoes and leather categories representing 86% of the total turnover for the quarter.