Lanvin Group Holdings - Earnings Call - Q2 2025

Transcript

Speaker 2

Thank you for joining us and welcome to the Lanvin Group's 2025 first half financial results conference call. All participants will be in a listen-only mode. Should you need assistance, please signal a conference specialist by pressing the star key followed by zero. After today's presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. Please note this event is being recorded. Now, please take a moment to review the disclaimers. During this presentation, the company will be making certain forward-looking statements, including but not limited to future performance and industry outlook. Forward-looking statements are inherently subject to risks, uncertainties, and other factors, and they are not guaranteed performance. For today's presentation, I would like to introduce Andy Lew, the Executive President of Lanvin Group, and David Chan, Executive President and CFO of Lanvin Group. With that, I'd like to turn it over to Andy Lew to start the presentation.

Speaker 0

Thank you and welcome everyone. I'm Andy Lew, the Executive President of Lanvin Group. The story of our first half is navigating a tough climate while preparing for a stronger future. We operated against a backdrop of persistent global macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainty. Performance at some of our brands was tempered by creative transitions as the markets awaited new collections and by overall sector softness. Despite these challenges, I'm proud to highlight that St. John demonstrated remarkable resilience, growing its core North American market despite the volatility. Most importantly, our strong cost discipline and accelerated retail footprint optimization began to deliver visible improvements in the second quarter, a positive trend we are focused on continuing. Our strategy is built for the long term, and we are confident that the foundational work we completed in the H1, particularly with our new creative leadership, positions us to capture demand as conditions improve.

Turning to page five, let's review the brand-level achievements in the first half that are shaping our future. At Lanvin, Peter Copping made his much-anticipated return to Paris Fashion Week this January, earning strong global acclaim for his debut collection, which celebrated the house's timeless French elegance. At Wolford, the brand reinforced its essentials positioning with the In Your Own Skin campaign, further defining its identity around modern essentials that balance refined design with enduring relevance. Separately, Wolford also completed a capital increase in H1 to provide additional support for its strategic transformation. For Sergio Rossi, the first half was about anticipation. The brand unveiled Paul Andrew's first collection, a massively emerging tradition with modern innovation, a collection we expect to drive fresh commercial traction in the second half. St.

John successfully revived its most iconic archival designs and collaborated with golf brand Malvin on a sport luxe capsule, blending classic knitwear with modern aesthetics. Finally, Caruso added new first-tier maison accounts while maintaining strong relationships with existing clients, and it generated excellent press coverage at Pitti Uomo. Our priorities for the remainder of the year are clear and action-oriented, as outlined on page six. First, we have strengthened brand leadership to ensure disciplined execution. At the brand level, teams have been reinforced with several key appointments, including a new Deputy CEO at Wolford. At St. John, we promoted internal talents through the roles of Chief Commercial Officer and Chief Operations Officer, alongside the appointment of a new Chief Merchandising Officer.

These promotions not only recognize the strong capabilities within the organization, but also underscore our ability to expand responsibilities from within while positioning the brand for its next phase of growth. Second, we continue to drive efficiency by streamlining operations and optimizing our retail footprint. In the first half, we right-sized 29 underperforming stores and will continue a comprehensive review of our network while further evaluating brand image and retail productivity. Third, we remain focused on protecting free cash flow through disciplined working capital management and rigorous cost control. Finally, we're deploying targeted marketing initiatives to boost traffic and conversion with the launch of the highly anticipated collections from both Lanvin and Sergio Rossi in the second half of 2025, expected to inject renewed growth and momentum across the group. With that, I'll hand it over to David to take you through our financial and brand-level performance.

Speaker 1

Thank you, Andy. I'm David Chan, Executive President and CFO of Lanvin Group. I'll be walking you through our first half financial at group and brand level. Page seven provides a snapshot of the group's financial performance. Our revenue in the first half was €133 million, down 22% year-on-year, reflecting softer market conditions and a planned creative transitions. Gross profit margin declined by 400 basis points to 54%, primarily due to the sell-through of prior season inventory. Contribution profit margin and adjusted EBITDA margin decreased by 7% and 14% respectively, as lower revenue impacted operation leverage. However, these effects were partially mitigated by cost actions. Importantly, these measures preserve flexibility and position us to capture momentum in the second half of this year. Page eight highlights the sequential improvement we saw in the second quarter, which supports our confidence for the back half of the year.

Most brands show encouraging signs of recovery in the second quarter. Lanvin and Sergio Rossi's D2C revenue grew by 46% and 16% quarter over quarter, respectively. Wolford's gross profit margin expanded by 1,673 basis points, and Caruso saw revenue growth of 11%. These results demonstrate that our operational initiatives are gaining traction, while St. John maintains steady performance throughout the entire first half. The revenue bridge on page nine shows the evolution of our top line from 2021. The ongoing macro and industry-wide challenges were the leading driver of the revenue decline in the first half of 2025. In the context of a broader luxury market slowdown and creative transition, the group has made a proactive decision to advance a strategic repositioning across geography and product assortment. Last year's logistic issues also had a residual effect on Wolford's performance, but the business is now in recovery.

Looking ahead, the additions of new creative talent at Lanvin and Sergio Rossi will be the key driver for the growth in the second half. Page ten breaks down our revenue by geography and channel. From a regional perspective, all key regions saw declines, with EMEA and Greater China facing the most significant headwinds, while APAC also reflected our planned strategic repositioning. By channel, both D2C and wholesale were down. Specifically, we saw major softness in wholesale for EMEA and cautious consumer sentiment in Greater China. On page 11, we delve into our margin performance. The 400 basis point reduction in gross profit margin was driven by several factors: sell-through of prior season inventory with creative transition, underutilization of product production capacity, and product mix changes. Contribution profit was pressured by lower revenues, though we took measures to reallocate marketing investment towards higher return initiatives.

Critically, all brands aggressively pushed G&A cost reduction measures to offset marketing weakness. The decline in adjusted EBITDA to €52 million was a result of this negative operational leverage, though our cost discipline helped prevent a larger drop. Pages 12 and 13 detail our successful efforts in right-sizing our operational expenses. Since the first half of 2023, we have made significant strides in reducing G&A expenses across the board. As you can see on page 13, Wolford reduced brand-level G&A by 27%, Sergio Rossi by 25%, and St. John by 35%. This disciplined approach to managing our cost base is fundamental to navigating the current environment and proving our path to profitability. At Lanvin, G&A expenses were €17 million in the first half of 2025, up from €14 million in the first half of 2024, but still 15% lower than the first half of 2023.

The year-on-year increase primarily reflects investment in creative development, specifically research and sample costs related to Peter Copping's debut collection. These are strategic investments aimed at positioning Lanvin for long-term growth. Excluding these planned spends, Lanvin's underlying cost base also reflects improved efficiency. Our retail footprint optimization strategy is nearing completion. As shown on page 14, we are ongoingly upgrading our store network to discipline new openings in flexible locations and rationalization of underperforming stores. In the first half, we streamlined 29 stores, creating a more focused and productive footprint. This sharper portfolio not only significantly improves the efficiency of our operations, but also positions us for stronger brand equity and sustainable value creation. Looking ahead, as we outlined on page 15, our focus remains on driving cost efficiencies, marketing optimization, and brand enhancement. We will continue to implement our action plan to further reduce cost and improve margins.

Our approach to marketing and footprint review will be highly tactical, focusing squarely on ROI. Finally, we will build the brand story and desirability at Lanvin and Sergio Rossi with their new creative leaders, which we believe will be a powerful catalyst for growth. I'll now move on to the brand results for the first half of 2025. Lanvin's revenue in the first half declined by 42%, primarily due to weak wholesale demand in EMEA, where clients adopted a wait-and-see approach ahead of Peter Copping's debut collection. Despite this, EMEA retail remained highly resilient, and in the second quarter, the successful launch of our marketplace model drove a 46% increase in D2C revenue and supported a notable rebound in North America e-commerce. Gross margin also improved sequentially from 52% in the first quarter to 57% in the second quarter, reflecting stronger retail dynamics and early benefits of our optimization efforts.

For the half year as a whole, gross margin decreased by 366 basis points year-on-year, primarily due to product mix changes and our ongoing retail network optimization. While the revenue decline pressured contribution profit, diligent cost-saving initiatives cushioned the impact, and we continue to invest in Peter's vision, which is integral to our long-term strategy. Looking to the second half, our initiatives are focused on a powerful launch for Peter Copping. We will execute a global integrated marketing campaign for the debut collection, amplify reach through targeted social media and e-commerce activations, and drive in-store traffic with refreshed visual merchandising and clienteling events. We'll maintain cost discipline with reinvesting savings into product innovation, flexible location, and strategic digital partnerships. Moving to Wolford's on page 18, revenue was down 23%, reflecting the residual impact from last year's third-party logistics transition. However, within this figure, there's a very positive story.

The wholesale channel demonstrated strong growth of 14% in a period driven by our strategic emphasis on partnership. The D2C decrease of 35% is a result of our active right-sizing of our retail network. Gross margin for the half year decreased due to the under-absorption of fixed cost production costs during the recovery phase and the planned liquidation of excess stock to improve inventory health. Encouragingly, the second quarter shows strong progress, with gross margin improving from 49% in the first quarter to 65% as inventory clearance was completed and production efficiency strengthened to higher capacity utilization. Another key achievement was an 18% reduction in G&A expenses, underscoring Wolford's commitment to operational discipline. Looking ahead to the second half, Wolford will celebrate its 75th anniversary with a dedicated brand push that builds on essential focus.

The campaign will spotlight iconic products at the core of its brand DNA while further optimizing the assortment. We will also continue to explore expansion opportunities in the emerging markets, particularly in the Middle East and APAC, building on momentum from the recovery. On page 19, we look at Sergio Rossi. Revenue fell 25% as customers held off on purchases in anticipation of Paul Andrew's first collection, which is set to hit the market in the second half. We were encouraged, however, by a strong quarter over quarter rebound in Q2. The retail sale was up 17%, and e-commerce was up 10%. Gross margin decreased by 9 percentage points due to the markdowns related to product mix changes and underutilization of production capacity. The second half will be the transformative period for Sergio Rossi. The focus will be on leveraging Paul Andrew's new collection to reintegrate the brand.

We plan to expand the wholesale channel by proactively seeking new partners, continue driving cost control to improve operational efficiencies, and reinforce our presence in core regions while making a targeted push into the U.S. market. Turning to page 20 for St. John, the brand demonstrated exceptional resilience, with revenue remaining nearly flat in a volatile environment. Its core North American market, which accounts for 98% of revenue, grew by 4%. The wholesale channel rose at 11%, reflecting successful strategic key account partnerships, notably with Nordstrom. The brand maintained a stellar gross margin of 69%, supported by consistent full-price sell-through. Contribution profit margin was also steady, decreasing by only 38 basis points. For the remainder of the year, St. John will continue to refine its key channels to improve conversions and boost sales.

We will stimulate the e-commerce channel with newly onboarded talent, creating a more seamless product mix to enhance design and merchandising processes, and optimize the supplier mix to mitigate geopolitical risk and improve cost efficiency. Finally, let's review Caruso on page 21. Revenue declined by 11%, primarily due to a slowdown in the Maison business, which is undergoing a broader reset phase in the luxury market. Importantly, the proprietary Caruso brand showed continued growth in order intake. Gross profit margin remained resilient at 29%, and contribution profit saw only a slight decrease amid the market headwinds. In the second half, Caruso will support the relaunch of selection to AAA Maison lines through collaboration with their new creative directors. The brand will also focus on acquiring new wholesale accounts in expanding markets like USA, Benelux, and DOC, and will continue to optimize its cost structure to improve operational efficiency.

At this point, I'd like to have Andy provide some final remarks.

Speaker 0

Great. Thank you, David. The first half of 2025 continued to present significant headwinds for the global luxury sector. Despite these persistent challenges, our focus remained unwavering. We maintained strict cost discipline, advanced our strategic creative transitions, and laid the groundwork for future growth. While top-line results reflect the difficult market environment, we are encouraged by the clear signs of recovery we saw in the second quarter across several of our brands. Our brands are taking decisive actions tailored to their unique market positions, and we are confident in their plans for the second half and going forward. Thank you again for your time and support. We will now open the line for questions.

Speaker 2

We will now begin the question and answer session. To ask a question, you may press star, then one on your touch-tone phone. If you are using a speaker phone, please pick up your handset before pressing the keys. If at any time your question has been addressed and you would like to withdraw your question, please press star, then two. At this time, we will pause momentarily to assemble our roster. Once again, if you would like to ask a question, please press star, then one to join the question queue. There appear to be no questions at this time, and this concludes our question and answer session, which also concludes the conference call. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect.