Lanvin Group Holdings Limited (LANV) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Thank you for joining us, and welcome to the Lanvin Group Fiscal Year 2024 Revenues Results Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] 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 guarantees of performance. For today's presentation, I would like to introduce David Chan, Executive President and CFO; and Andy Lew, Executive President. I will now turn it over to David to start the presentation.

Thank you, and welcome to everyone joining us today. I'm David Chan, Executive President and CFO of Lanvin Group. As anticipated, 2024 was a challenging year for the luxury fashion industry, marked by macroeconomic headwinds and a softened market environment. Our preliminary revenue for 2024 was EUR 328 million, a decrease of 23% compared to 2023. While these results reflect the broader industry trends and driven by a challenging macro backdrop that weighed on consumer sentiment, particularly in Greater China and the wholesale channel, Lanvin Group has laid the foundation for gradual return to growth. We remain optimistic about our future prospects. We have taken proactive measures to consolidate our store network, optimize our retail footprint and enhance operational efficiency. We have also implemented strategies to reduce back-office expenses and improve working capital management. The appointment of Andy Lew as Executive President is expected to drive strategic implementation and being transformative initiatives across our brands. I will now hand over to Andy who will provide insight into our 2025 outlook.

Thank you, David. I'm Andy Lew. I would like to take a moment to say I'm honored to step into this new role as Executive President of the Lanvin Group. It's a pivotal time for us, and I'm excited about the opportunities going forward. As we look ahead to 2025, our focus remains on driving growth and enhancing operational efficiency across our brands. Here are some key initiatives we will be prioritizing: number one, we will cultivate a dynamic and experienced leadership team that is agile and adaptable to change; two, we are establishing a second headquarters in Europe to streamline operations and enhance decision-making agility; three, we will seek new revenue growth points in regions, product categories and innovative business models through strategic partnerships and collaborative ecosystems; fourth, we anticipate sales growth following the product launch of the new Artistic Director at Lanvin and Creative Director at Sergio Rossi. We are confident that these initiatives will position Lanvin Group for sustained growth and profitability in 2025 and beyond. It's a new chapter, and I can't wait to see what we can achieve together. With that, I'd like to turn it back to David to go through some of the brand level results in 2024.

Thank you, Andy. I'll now provide everyone with more details on revenue results for each brand. Lanvin, our flagship brand, saw a revenue decline of 26% from EUR 112 million in 2023 to EUR 83 million in 2024. This was driven by a global slowdown in luxury demand and changing consumer preferences. Wholesale revenue fell by 32% due to a weak market for retailers and specialty stores. D2C revenue decreased by 21%, in line with the overall trend in the luxury sector. Geographically, Greater China saw a 40% decline and North America saw a 19% decline. The EMEA D2C market remained more resilient despite wholesale challenges. Lanvin began rebalancing its distribution channels in 2024, targeting less productive stores and investing in its first collection under the new Artistic Director, Peter Copping. The highly anticipated developed fashion show by Peter in January 2025 received huge press release and unanimous positive comments on show and collection with product deliveries expected in the second half of 2025. Moving on to Wolford. Wolford's revenue declined by 31% from EUR 126 million in 2023 to EUR 88 million in 2024. The EMEA region was most affected with a 36% decline, followed by Greater China and North America. The wholesale channel saw the greatest impact with a 46% decline, primarily due to the integration problem with a new logistic partner. In 2025, Wolford will celebrate its 75th anniversary with brand push in the second half of the year, focusing on optimizing product assortment and focus on hero products to enhance cash efficiency. From a channel standpoint, the company will continue streamlining its network, retail network while placing strong emphasis on expanding both the wholesale and e-commerce channel. Now I'd like to discuss Sergio Rossi. Sergio Rossi's revenue declined by 30% from EUR 60 million in 2023 to EUR 42 million in 2024. The EMEA market and Greater China both declined by 35%. However, Japan remained stable at 8% decrease, while outlet revenue increased by 15%. In July 2024, Sergio Rossi appointed Paul Andrew as Creative Director. In '25, the brand will focus on enhancing the wholesale business with Paul Andrew's new collection and seeking local partners to explore high-growth regions. Moving on to St. John. St. John's revenue declined by 12% from EUR 90 million in 2023 to EUR 79 million in 2024. North America outperformed other regions with domestic wholesale growing by 3% due to a strategic partnership with Nordstrom. Retail revenue decreased by 9% and e-commerce decreased by 15%. Both platform migration and distribution relocation negatively impacted top line in the fourth quarter, but are expected to drive growth in 2025. In 2024, St. John repositioned its retail portfolio in key markets, opening flagship boutique in New York and Beverly Hills. It also completed an impactful digital upgrade in Q4 to better highlight products and elevate the client experience on site. These upgrades are expected to provide a cohesive cross-channel shopping journey. In '25, the brand will continue to focus on North America, leveraging its Southern California heritage through powerful storytelling and strong product positioning. Finally, I'd like to discuss Caruso's results. Caruso's revenue decreased slightly by 7% from EUR 40 million in 2023 to EUR 36 million in 2024. The B2B Maisons orders decreased due to difficult luxury market that impacted some of the company's top clients. Lower buy of these clients were partially offset by new acquired top customers. The Caruso brand business grew double digits, gaining market share attributed to the appeal of its playful elegant collections and its undisputed quality level offer at a customer respect for luxury price. Also, the brand's made-to-measure business expanded, driven by its outstanding service level. The Caruso brand is poised to continue to grow supported by a revitalized and strengthened distribution team and several appealing market initiatives being implemented. In 2025, Caruso expects to grow through new designs and business relationships, supported by a revitalized distribution team and marketing initiatives. To conclude, I want to take a moment to reflect on where we are and where we are heading. Despite the challenges in the macroeconomic environment, Lanvin Group remains steadfast in its commitment to our long-term vision. We believe that even in tough times, there's always room for innovation and growth, especially in the luxury fashion industry where we hold much of a unique and nimble position. We're taking decisive steps to enhance our management capability in the past months. Under the leadership of a new exec President, Andy, we're building a dynamic and forward-thinking leadership team. This is crucial as we establish our second headquarter in Europe, which will not only strengthen our local presence but also optimize our decision-making efficiency. We've also been proactive in consolidating our store network, focusing on our core business units and optimizing our retail footprint. This strategic move ensures that we remain agile and efficient in a rapidly changing market. On the creative front, we are excited about the new energy and vision brought by our newly appointed artistic and creative directors at Lanvin and Sergio Rossi. Peter's debut show in January 2025 was a resounding success, and we are confident that this is just the beginning of the new chapter of growth of our brands. We remain committed to our long-term investment and successful in the luxury fashion industry, and we're excited about the journey ahead. Thank you.

[Operator Instructions] There are no questions at this time, which concludes our question-and-answer session and concludes our conference call today. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect.