MILAN — Tariff refunds helped boost Safilo Group in the first half of the year, amid a challenging market for upscale eyewear worldwide.
On Tuesday, the Padua, Italy-based eyewear-maker, which produces eyewear for Kate Spade, Carrera, Tommy Hilfiger, Boss, Marc Jacobs, Victoria Beckham and David Beckham, said its adjusted group net margin rose 3.3 percentage points to 9.6 percent in the first half. Excluding tariff refunds, the adjusted group net margin stood at 6.6 percent, up 0.3 percentage points.
Safilo filed claims for duties previously paid in the U.S. and received 22.2 million euros in refunds, which the company intends to reinvest in the business.
In the six-month period ended June 30, group net profit totaled 49.4 million euros, up 46.7 percent from 33.7 million euros a year earlier.
First-half sales slid 1.9 percent to 512 million euros with declines across all geographic areas. Asia-Pacific, which represented 5.5 percent of total sales, recorded the steepest decline, with sales falling 17.2 percent. North America, which represented 40.1 percent of second-quarter sales, followed with a 6.1 percent decline. Europe, the company’s biggest market, representing 46.3 percent of sales, fell 3.2 percent, while the rest of the world declined 1.5 percent. The company said the Middle East market “stabilized” as the quarter progressed.
