Following today’s release of Hugo Boss’ figures for the 52 weeks ending 31st December 2024; Pippa Stephens, senior apparel analyst at GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company, offers her view: “Hugo Boss saw further improvement in its performance in Q4 FY2024, with reported revenue rising 6.1% to just over €1.2bn. This follows reported growth of just 0.2% in the prior quarter, with its acceleration driven by high demand over the festive period. This allowed it to meet its projected sales outlook for the full year, growing 2.6% to just over €4.3bn, and outperform the global apparel market, which is forecast to have increased by only 0.2%. Hugo Boss was aided by its strong brand relevance and value for money perceptions, though low consumer sentiment prevented it from reaching its full potential. Hugo Boss’ operating profit was more problematic, falling 12.0% to €361m, with the company continuing to focus on enhanced cost efficiency to drive improvements in this area over the coming year. With the macroeconomic and geopolitical environment expected to remain challenging in 2025, and the group experiencing muted store traffic since the beginning of the year, Hugo Boss remains cautious in its outlook, with group sales anticipated to stay relatively flat, ranging from a decline of 2% to growth of 2%, and EBIT forecast to increase between 5% and 22%.
“The Americas was Hugo Boss’ strongest region, with currency-adjusted sales rising an impressive 13% in Q4 and 8% across the full year, bolstered by an improved economy in the US driving consumers’ propensity to spend. However, the region’s outlook remains soft for FY2025, with forecast growth of a low-single-digit percentage, as US economic growth is expected to slow. EMEA’s sales increased 3% in FY2025, helped by a better performance in its home market of Germany as inflation softened and double-digit growth in emerging markets. Its sales in EMEA are expected to remain flat in the current year, as economic uncertainty persists in other major markets such as the UK and France. Conversely, APAC had a challenging year, declining by 2%, dragged down by a tough economic environment in China, though revenue grew by high single-digits in Southeast Asia & Pacific. These challenges in China are anticipated to continue in FY2025, with APAC forecast to experience a moderate decline.
“While Hugo Boss’ brick-and-mortar retail channel saw reported sales fall 0.9% in FY2024, hindered by a drop in store traffic, brick-and-mortar wholesale rose 7.6%, as it witnessed strong demand from its partners and expanded its global franchise business in emerging markets. Its digital sales rose 6.0%, driven by ongoing developments to its website. Across its brands, growth was relatively similar for the full year, with BOSS menswear and womenswear rising by 2.2% and 3.1%, respectively, with the slightly stronger growth of the latter driven by it being less established. Both were aided by their celebrity collaborations, most notably with David Beckham and Naomi Campbell, helping to increase visibility and awareness. HUGO’s sales increased 4.4%, with the launch of sub-brand HUGO BLUE in March 2024 allowing it to increase its relevance among young shoppers due to the collection’s streetwear aesthetic.”
