Kering sales fall sharply as problems mount at Gucci

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Sales at French luxury group Kering plunged in the first quarter as struggles continued at its biggest brand Gucci, underlining the scale of the turnaround facing its new creative director.

The group, which also owns Saint Laurent and Bottega Veneta, reported a 14 per cent year-on-year decline in first quarter sales to €3.9bn.

The drop was more severe than forecasts from analysts at Citibank and Barclays, who had estimated year-on-year falls of 10 per cent and 12 per cent respectively.

The decline was driven by a 25 per cent slump in comparable sales at Gucci. Kering recently appointed Demna Gvasalia, formerly creative director at Balenciaga, as Gucci’s new creative director. Gucci’s sales fell to €1.6bn in the first quarter.

Kering, which is controlled by the billionaire Pinault family, has been struggling to fix the problems at Gucci for several years, despite changing the label’s designers and executives. It has been underperforming luxury leaders LVMH and Hermès since 2021.