Brunello Cucinelli tops €500 million revenue mark in 2017

By

Dominique Muret

Translated by
Nicola Mira

Published
Jan 9, 2018

In 2017, Brunello Cucinelli topped for the first time the €500 million revenue mark, at the end of a year its eponymous founder and CEO defined as "splendid", as the Italian luxury label published its preliminary results for 2017. A performance which allows Cucinelli to look forward to "excellent profits" too, and to be optimistic about 2018, considering the orders received for the Spring-Summer season and the highly satisfactory sales results posted in the winter.

The luxury label, specialised in cashmere and listed on the stock exchange since 2012, managed to keep a sustained pace throughout last year, achieving a 10.4% growth (+10.9% at constant exchange rates) over the same period a year earlier, when it grew by 10.1%.

Its 2017 revenue reached €503.6 million, as the group's sales increased both in Italy and outside its domestic market. On the Italian market, which only accounted for 16.8% of global sales, Brunello Cucinelli increased by 11.2%, reaching €84.7 million. This result made the label's founder and boss very happy, since he regards Italy as "a highly strategic market," akin to a "thermometer" which allows him to assess his collections' reception.

Elsewhere, North America is Cucinelli's most important outlet, representing 35.5% of its total sales and generating a revenue of €178.6 million, up 6.5% compared to 2016.

Sales in Europe grew 10.6% (they had risen by 5.8% in 2016) to €150.9 million, while in Greater China they surged 36.2%, though they still only represent 8.5% of total revenue, being worth €42.7 million.

The gap between sales generated via directly owned stores and those from other stores remained sizeable in 2017. Sales for the direct retail channel leaped 19.6%, reaching €270.5 million. The group also underlined its comparable sales growth, which was equivalent to 4.4% last year. Sales to multibrand clients and department stores increased by 6.2%, while sales in franchised stores were practically stable, growing by only 1.5%. The number of Cucinelli branded stores has risen in total to 124 as of 31st December 2017. Of these, 94 stores are directly operated.