Earnings Call: H2 2023

Mar 14, 2024

Good evening, and welcome to the presentation of the 2023 full year results of the fashion house, Brunello Cucinelli. Speakers will be Brunello Cucinelli, Executive Chairman and Creative Director, Riccardo Stefanelli, CEO, Luca Lisandroni, CEO, Dario Pipitone, CFO, Moreno Ciarapica, Co-CFO Senior, and Pietro Arnaboldi, Investor Relations and Corporate Planning Director. In order to receive help from an operator during the conference call, press star followed by zero. Now, I'd like to give the floor to Brunello Cucinelli. The floor is yours. Good evening. Good evening, everyone. I am very pleased to be here after three months. It's always a great pleasure to speak to you, analysts, investors, some journalists also take part in these calls. It's true that it's been almost three months since we've spoken, though, but many of you have come to Pitti, Florence, or Solomeo. We'll be reading out the financial statements, results, then the general report on the most important themes for 2023. Then another very important topic, the performance of the spring/summer 2024 collections, because you see, they're nearly over. Then, still very, very important, the sales trend at the end of Q1. Then, of course, a market overview and how things are going there. Perhaps this is the thing you're most interested in, and of course, it is understandable. Then we would like to debate, a great topic, what we call gentle luxury, and also the great value of exclusivity. We will then like to provide you a, a fairly, you know, visible turnover and profit forecast for 2024. Then the same figures for 2024, we can say pretty visible, that one, too. A small update on the, the most important projects in eyewear and fragrances, and then very important investment in the, high quality artisan production capacity that should lead us to a production planning, catering for 2020, 2030, and also beyond. So revenues of EUR 1.1344 billion, with a beautiful 23.9% growth at current exchange rates and plus 26% at constant exchange rates vis-à-vis last, last year. EBIT, EUR 187.4 million, up 34, 39, sorry, 34.4%, vis-à-vis EUR 134 million in 2022, with margin of 16.4% against 14% and to support artisan production. Okay, prova. Please, welcoming to-... Alors, 102. OK. Now let me move on to the PNL. Now, slide 31 shows a cost structure, which is well balanced, as it was already in the first half of 2023. The first margin of 2023 is up 25.5% and has an incidence of 72.5% versus 71.5% of the previous year. Now, such an increase is due to the positive contribution of the sales mix distribution channel, geographies, and product mix. As to the channel mix, we underline the positive impact of the retail. So include the contribution conventions, which account for some 10% of the total. As to geographies, we underline the positive impact, which is mainly attributable to the growth of America and Asia, which represent the geographical areas with a markup that has most favorable First Margins. While not forgetting that this effect has a substantial neutral effect at EBIT level. As a consequence, considering the related marketing costs, well, the impact is quite meaningful. Now, to conclude, the product mix, which is favored by the constant strong customers' quest for increasingly special garments. Moving on to continuing comments on the profit and loss account, from the increase recorded in the First Margin to the increase in operating costs equal to 27.5%, we can say that this underscore the new commercial initiatives. Have an amount of EUR 78.9 million compared to EUR 52.2 million last year, with an incidence that increased from 5.7% to 6.9%. In continuity with what was commented the first half year figures, in particular, by the great number and prestige of the events held during the year. Personnel costs amount to EUR 195 million, which went up by 18.4%, less than proportional versus the growth of revenues. 71.1% compared to 17.9% last year. As at December 2023, the number of human resources...... were 2,623 full-time equivalents, an increase of 315, FTE attributable to the strengthening of our management structure, the expansion of the network, and the related business growth, and, a special mention, the increase in production workers as part of the project to strengthen our artisanal or craft structure. The rental costs, net of IFRS 16, effects amounted to EUR 115 million, and goes, basically to 16%, with an incidence on, revenues, of 13.6% this year versus 14.5% last year. To conclude, with this slide, DNAs amount to EUR 113.8 million, slightly going up 5% versus EUR 131.9 million of last year. As a consequence, we can say that EBIT, as of thirty-first of December 2023, amounts to EUR 187.4 million, and an operating margin of 16.4%. At the end of the year, after financial charges in line with what they were last year, and considering the tax rate of 28.6% versus 29.7% last year, net profit amounts to EUR 123.8 million, with a margin of 10.5%, with an incidence of 10.9%. Let me go to continue with slide 35. Here you see a breakdown, which shows a recurrent component, which helps to project the expectation for next year, and distinguishing it from a component related to foreign exchange fluctuations, and then another part, another component, which is non-recurrent. As to the recurrent component, as at 31 December 2023, the amount is EUR 22.2 million, in line with what was last year, EUR 21.2 million. As to foreign exchange loss or gains, well, they amounted to EUR 10.1 million of losses as at 31 December 2023, compared to foreign exchange gains of EUR 4 million of last year. For both years, they are related to the unrealized component of such a foreign exchange. Lastly, the non-recurrent portion of income expenses from equity investments amounting to EUR 18.2 million refers mainly to our associate, Cariaggi Lanificio. In 2023, investments are diluted proportionally every year compared to the half year results. Now, moving on to slide 36, let me make a number of comments on the balance sheet in detail, net working capital, capital investments, and net financial debt. As far as the net working capital is concerned, at 31 December 2023, it amounted to EUR 178.3 million, an increase of EUR 37.5 million compared to last year, and in which the incidence was 16.3%. More in detail, trade receivables shows a very healthy situation, with a slight increase in absolute value, of EUR 1.6 million, despite a significant increase in turnover, with particular reference to the wholesale sales channel, +13.3%, by the way. Trade payables, while keeping the payment terms to suppliers unchanged, suppliers, collaborators, and consultants, recorded an increase of about EUR 29 million, mainly related to the procurement in the last quarter of local materials and external processing, in support, as well as the same of the excellent sales campaigns and related production. As far as net working capital is concerned, as far as inventory is concerned, the incidence on sales as of 31 December 2023 was 25.2%, also favored by the excellent sales performance and compared to the 26.4% last year. Lastly, to conclude, the net financial debt, slide 38, stands at EUR 6.1 million compared to 7 million last year, despite the significant investment plan of EUR 79.1 million and the payment of dividends totaling EUR 63.1 million. So, the feedback was based in terms of first order, and you see, because with the press, you can have a collection that sold well, but perhaps the members of the press believe that your collection is not current enough, and that's when you should start worrying. So it's very important for us to receive feedback from our multi-brand accounts, because they usually view about 100 collections, and if they express a good opinion on your collection, then you're happy. Whereas if they give you some constructive advice on what to change, well, that's what you should be listening to. So sales in the first quarter. So... Of course, we are just talking about exclusive luxury, so it is very important for you to bear this in mind. So now we have, we have enjoyed a very interesting quarter. Francesco? So as we were saying, we believe that all markets are experiencing a pretty good moment in Milan, with a good contribution from all geographies, and we have just commenced it. On the one hand, Asia is doing very well across all geographies, Asia geographies, and America, too, and we were about just commencing the great success, we thanks to the great all these international events, the Oscars and the Academy Awards and the Super Bowl, that basically transferred this feeling, this sentiment of a very positive atmosphere. Then, there are so many friends of the brand because, you know, we do not pay any celebrity to wear our garments. We do not sponsor anyone. So Alessio experienced firsthand this kind of vibes and atmosphere, and last but not least, Europe. Once again, there's a lot of soundness and health coming from the European business. But in terms of dynamics, there is this phenomenon that we commented a few months ago, this idea of increase in the demand for luxury. And this also outside the main capital cities, but we actually see it in the orders, in the trust that we see in our multi-brand accounts, who definitely went through a time of a lot of renewed trust. So, as you know, when talking to them, to have a quality collection is always key. Then, in terms of geography, I'd like to once again highlight the importance of the first-tier resort locations, and this phenomenon has been going on for quite a while. Let's take a look at the channel. At the start of this year, the digital channel is back up in line with the physical brick-and-mortar business, in this beautiful synergy between physical and digital that we commented on very often. 60% of our customers, very often, they step into our boutiques, showing us the pictures of some boutique, of some outfits that they saw in our online boutique. Then, as far as the behavior of customers is concerned, this quarter, too, local customers are playing really the lion's share here across all markets. But another interesting element is an increase and the gradual increase of tourism. I have to say that right at the start of this year, this increase in tourism, touristic flows, also displays a much wider range of nationalities than in the past. And we are particularly happy to see how our splendid Italy, it's always been a great destination for image; well, it is now even more attractive on the international stage. Well, and the whole, there is always a great, demand for, special items in a very, careful, and, mindful kind of shopping and purchases, by our customers. And then, this quarter is about to draw, to a close, and our sales cannot, but can be defined as great. Well, and an interesting figure for us is always the growth in the, visits to our website and also the traffic into our stores. And in this kind of element, we see a further evidence of the health of our brand. And thanks to that, for the whole of 2024, we can envisage a growth across all areas and channels. We expect a very similar mix to that of last year, perhaps with a mild increase in, the Asian, weight in our, business. Well, I've just come back from Shanghai, where we met with our team in order to exchange ideas, to draft plans, and we discussed in depth, at length about the values of exclusivity, kindness, luxury. Once again, restating the value of the sales assistants in the stores, because everything starts from there. As you know, now in China, we make... We make 12% of our revenues, and we believe that China, on the one hand, is enjoying the positioning of the brand, that is absolutely consistent with the international positioning. And on the other hand, this basically speaks to the appreciation of our style, as testified by the great recognition awarded to Brunello last December by GQ China. In the eyes of the Chinese, Brunello Cucinelli is a brand of lifestyle with a heart in ready-to-wear, exclusive, recognizable, naturally linked to the highest, top-notch quality of made in Italy, and absolutely pure and protected, and looked after both in terms of distribution and communication. We really feel that over time, we were able to lay some foundations, and for this reason, we decided to call this 2024 as some sort of a new year, the start of a new chapter in our Chinese book. So because, of course, 12% is a quite a small starting point. We are very confident that we can grow both organically in the existing spaces, and at the same time, we believe that in the coming months, we can see some further development opportunities for our direct network and also our wholesale point of sales, always looking at the top-level cities, first-level cities. As far as the digital commerce is concerned, we believe that we have a great, authentic, loyal image of our brand across the digital channel, and we believe that it is a strategic channel, especially for communication, even before sales. Well, as you might have seen, China, for us, has been growing constantly in the past few years, and as this potential is being developed and released, our growth pace in this growth grows accordingly. We are growing gradually. Step by step, and we believe that this way we can build a long-standing, loyal business over time that can become increasingly relevant. So I would like to perhaps stop here, Brunello, so we can leave more room for questions. Yes, ten more minutes, something that needs to be repeated. As you know, the collection is exactly the same across the world. The only thing that changes are the different sizes and also maybe the weight, because if you are in Hamburg, you need heavier garments rather than in other markets. Then we have to mention the great events in Milan, Pitti, Florence, and we really discussed at length about this quiet luxury. And honestly, I don't know what this means, because we all devote such a long time in the morning to pick the chicest outfit. And you see, we want to call our item exclusive product, not desirable, because my new iPhone 15 can be a desirable item, but everybody can have it. It's not exclusive. I have the... I'm under the impression that people are looking for very beautiful, top-notch quality, exclusive garments and garments that you do not throw away. So, so we talked about how people want to know where products are made, how they're made. But you see, elegance was the key word, refinement in Milan and Florence. We need to look youthful and dapper. So at the end of the day, drawing inspiration from ancient Greece, we decided to come up with this expression. So, the Gentle Luxury, a symbol of beauty within measure, as we learned from the Greeks. Because according to the Greeks, according to measure means according to nature and vice versa. It is a time when we are in the lookout for beauty, simplicity, creativity, genius, and hospitality. These are the great universal values. As Luca was saying, we like to view ourselves as a house of fashion and lifestyle. Growth about 10%. Prices went up between 1% and 2%, and... ... So once again, we want to talk about gracious growth and then healthy and balanced profits. This morning during the board meeting, we debated with our board members, we debated the great topics: the value of family, the value of products, and the value of our company between now and 2030, because these are the plans we need to shed a light on. So family is a great concept. I've always believed firmly in it, and today it has brought us to the decision to submit the names of my two daughters, Camilla and Carolina, to the position of Vice President, with a power about product image and communication. So we have, of course, Riccardo, the CEO, the husband of my elder daughter, and then the husband of the younger daughter is in the style team. Then we have my wife, basically, she deals with the whole foundation, with the La Scala Theater, the cultural events. Then we have Luca and his wife. And he, of course, is not part of the family, but he is somehow part of the family, too. So at the end of the day, the whole family focuses on product, and I'm very pleased with this, because if you make a mistake in an investment, you can always, basically fix it. But if you just get the product wrong, there is no chance that you're going to bring it back up. As you know, we always focus on the value of product, exclusivity, craftsmanship. And to conclude, we envisage that the company, as of 2030, what should it look like? Well, we would like it to be still headquartered here in Solomeo, with revenues doubled compared to 2023, thereby meaning, meaning growing by 10%, a year, here in this valley, always, looking after craftsmanship and exclusivity. So eyewear and fragrance, we are very happy with the relationship with EssilorLuxottica. Next week in Rome, we present the next eyewear collection, and we also enjoy a great relationship with Euroitalia, this great family run business with the father and, three, children, EUR 1 billion revenues, Italian production, great expert, in perfumes and fragrances. We would like that these two contemporary licensees, they should be seen not as an extension, but true products, you know, a self-standing product, because eyewear and fragrances go hand in hand with ready-to-wear, because you wear your glasses on your face and your fragrance complements the look. So we have the very same Made in Italy with these two companies, craftsmanship, noble raw materials, and also precious details. For example, in research, we did a great research on acetate plate, and so the very special colors that came out, then the lightness of titanium, and it is the same very same lightness that we try for in clothing and fragrances. To fine-tune two fragrances, well, it took us almost three years, but we believe that we have come up with a really key fragrances for us. And this great collaboration with the creative teams is very, it's great. You know, we go and talk to them, and they come to us, so it is not a license, simple license. Perhaps now, Riccardo? Thank you very much, Antonella. When it comes to investment, that part of them are as we talked about it in our previous call, three-year investment plan now on factory that includes almost doubling of our factory in Solomeo. Works proceeding according to plan. And then a project which also takes place of the environment of valley and of the area we operate, which very effective. And then we are very pleased as to the works continue, but also as to the timing of Penne. Because there we've found very good laborers and good artisans. This factory which really has wide windows looking at the Gran Sasso mountain, which we like. An investment similar to that of the Carrara, we made a few years ago, and, then we consider it, the Maranello, the, one Ferrari, circuit of four places. Well, Carrara was, it was a very, very nice, factory with, 700 tailors. Why do we believe strong in this type of investments? Because we believe in a principle or truth, whereby with this kind of production, you cannot, you know, exploit economies of scale. Sorry, you can exploit economies of scale. If you want to double the amount you can produce, you need more tailors. For this reason, among ourselves, we say very good and skilled hands and skilled artisans. All of these investments will lead us to doubling the production capacity, and we believe this is going to reassure us for the next 10 years. Now, I'll not go on further because you know the value of artisanal work. You know what we think about the work of laborers. You know what we think about the workplace. In April, during the next call, we will have the possibility to get a bit more into these topics with you. Now, let me tell you something which I believe is interesting. Milleri, with whom we have a very nice cooperation, the CEO of Luxottica, he said that you know, the style and beautiful is a philosophy, it's almost getting into the world of labor or the environment of labor. We do apologize. We can't hear the speakers. And then he also asked, do we feel a great sensitivity? Whenever Brunello speaks about labor, he reminds me of Leonardo da Vinci, because when he mentioned the word labor, he, he wanted to express gratitude. Whenever he had a free, time, he would immediately go to the plant because he had to learn from the laborers. He basically give life to the product and to their skill plans. So before, wrapping up, I would like to say the following: You see, there was this great research that was made on dynamic epigenetics. According to this study, it says, it is a personal research that studies to the extent to which the conditions of the context in which we live can stimulate or request a complete expression of one's genetic heritage. In a nutshell, Dynamic Epigenetics can go so far as to scientifically measure the impact that what surrounds us, and that is never taken into account. What was the impact that surrounds us has on our DNA and on our well-being? So, for example, with you being able to look at the landscape, to be surrounded by a pleasant working environment, or maybe being able to look out of the window. So even scientifically, it has been demonstrated that to work in pleasant conditions is important. So honestly speaking, we are working in a very serene, concentrated manner in this atmosphere. And I hope you can also feel the vibe. Also, the next call on April sixteenth, where we will give you the quarterly report, everybody will be very excited except for me, because I have a whole week that I have to spend across Europe. Well, these meetings and events, we find them particularly interesting for the brand, even though I have to stand for pictures. Sometimes someone doesn't like the picture, so you have to do a retake, and I also am not supposed to eat, and I have... I enjoy watching other people eating. This is my special innovative diet. Don't eat, refrain from eating. Well, same benefits that improve. Eat once a day in winter at the ninth hour, i.e., 3 P.M. We apologize with the listeners of the English translation, but we cannot hear the Italian. That's why it is a patchy translation. We apologize. It's not our fault. Yep, yep. Whoever wants to ask a question, press star followed by one on your keypad. In order to leave the booking list, press star followed by two. Then as far as payment... Sorry.... Mr. Levi Hu, your line is open. Yes. Thank you. Good evening, and congratulations on the beautiful results. This is Levi Hu from CICC and Bloomberg from Hong Kong. I have two questions. Well, I have to say that it is a very positive time for Kade, Paola. You see, there's this idea. Elegance is the key word in Florence, Milan, but elegance is not a synonym of old, mind you. The elegance must be modern and contemporary. Great, thank you. I'd like to remind you that in order to ask a question, you can press star followed by one on your keypad. For further questions, please press star followed by one on your keypad. For the time being, there are no other questions. Well, if there are no questions... Well, we're here. We have all the time in the world. Next question from conference call in English. Adriano, Goldman Sachs. Hi. Good evening. I hope you can hear me. This is Adrien Duverger from Goldman Sachs. Thank you very much for taking my questions. I had two, if possible, and sorry if I repeat the previous questions, as the translation was not working previously. The first one would be on the trends by consumer nationality. Could you comment on how the American cluster is doing, how the European cluster is doing? And then if you can comment a bit more specifically on the growth of the Chinese consumers, on what you've been seeing year to date, and what are your expectations for tourism and Chinese traveling to Europe in 2024? And then my second question would be about margins. So your operating margin reached a record high in 2023. This was a 16.4% . I think this is like a 180 basis points improvement from last year. I was wondering if you could give us a bit more information about how to think about it going forward. What are your ambitions, and maybe what are the key levers that you can use to keep the margins either at this level or to keep improving? Thank you very much. We keep talking about after this luxury. If you have any questions, please email them to us, because we could not hear. Thank you. Bye-bye. Conference operator speaking, the conference call is finished. You can disconnect your phone. Thank you.