Prada turning its eyes eastward to drive growth

Fashion house Prada has shrugged off concerns about a slowdown in sales of luxury goods to western consumers as business in developing economies soars.

While markets such as the US and Europe face a slowdown amid economic stagnation and austerity cuts, the Asia-Pacific region has been growing robustly.

The Italian group, whose brands also include Miu Miu and Church’s Shoes, posted a net profit of €273 million (£234m) for the three months to the end of October, a 75 per cent increase from a year earlier. Sales during the period grew by 25 per cent to just over €1.7 billion.

Prada said its sales in the Asia-Pacific area jumped by 39 per cent to €580m, making the region one of its key markets.

Chief executive Patrizio Bertelli said: “Once again, during the quarter we achieved very strong results in terms of sales and profitability, which confirm the group’s ability to sustain high growth rates while improving operating margins.”

Jon Copestake, retail analyst at the Economist Intelligence Unit, said: “Prada joins a long list of luxury firms such as PPR, Burberry and LVMH in seeing Chinese growth compensating for weak eurozone sentiment.”