Months of intense news in relations between the Salvatore Ferragamo brand and the Chinese market. Peter Woo, a longtime Chinese partner and non-executive and non-independent board member of the company, resigned from the board of directors in recent days. Elected by the shareholders' meeting on April 22, 2021, the entrepreneur, through the company Majestic honour limited, owns more than 10 million shares in the Florentine brand. This news comes just over a month after the announcement of the dissolution of the joint ventures Ferragamo had in China with Woo, a transaction finalized in early November.
The Salvatore Ferragamo company, head of the Group of the same name, together with its subsidiary Ferragamo Hong Kong has in fact acquired for $42 million from Imaginex and Imaginex overseas - traceable to Peter Woo - the minority stakes in the three joint ventures Ferragamo Moda Shanghai (25 percent), Ferragamo Retail Macau (25 percent) and Ferrimag (24.8), set up to distribute Ferragamo products in the Greater China area.
Transactions that fit into a picture that saw the Maison close the first nine months of 2023 with consolidated revenues of 844 million euros, down 8.3 percent at current exchange rates and 9.2 percent at constant exchange rates compared to the first nine months of 2022. An effect, a note explains, also "of the perimeter reduction in both the Retail and Wholesale channels." Going into detail, as of September 30, the Retail distribution channel reported net sales down 10.2 percent compared to the same period in 2022; down 16.6 percent for the Wholesale channel.
Geographically, Asia Pacific recorded a decline of 16.4 percent, -11.6 percent for the Japanese market, while Emea held up with + 3.1 percent. On the North America front, the decline was 20.1 percent; - 3.1 percent for Central and South America. "The overall sales performance reflects, at this stage, the continued focus on the quality of sales, the rationalization of distribution networks, as well as the evolution of the offer and the acceleration of the transition to the new creative course, whose full potential will be evident in 2024," was the comment of Marco Gobbetti, CEO and MD of Salvatore Ferragamo Spa.
