PARIS (Reuters) – Kering’s star brand Gucci grew sales by 3.8% in the third quarter, missing analyst expectations, as the pace of recovery from the coronavirus pandemic slowed down sharply following a bumper second quarter, particularly in Asia.
Overall sales at the French group rose by 12.2% on a comparable basis, which strips out the effect of acquisitions and currency fluctuations, a touch above an analyst consensus forecast for an 11% increase.
The group flagged a strong performance in the United States and improving sales in western Europe but said a resurgence of COVID-19 cases in late July and August had weighed on revenues in the key Asia-Pacific region.
(Reporting by Mimosa Spencer, editing by Silvia Aloisi)