MILAN — Hard work, creativity and a long-term vision are serving Prada Group well “but it’s a long journey” ahead, said group chief executive officer Andrea Guerra.
During a conference call with analysts on Wednesday, he touted “a solid and healthy set of numbers,” leveraging the advancement of the relationship with consumers worldwide and a double-digit growth “almost totally like-for-like.” But Guerra said it is key to remain vigilant and nimble, given the volatility of the market, and that “certain headwinds are likely to be more cyclical than structural. We remain committed to our strategy and to our ambition to deliver solid, sustainable and above-market growth.”
The group is weathering the challenges, reporting rising sales and steady profitability in the first half ended June 30. Revenues rose 8 percent to 2.74 billion euros compared with 2.55 billion euros in the same period last year.
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Retail sales were up 8 percent to 2.45 billion euros, with growth across all regions. Wholesale sales dipped 2 percent to 220 million euros.
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In a statement, Patrizio Bertelli, Prada Group chairman and executive director, underscored the strength of the brands and the “disciplined execution” leading to the “healthy performance” despite the “challenging backdrop, somewhat unprecedented in our industry.”
Bertelli believes “the structural growth opportunities remain unchanged, but we are conscious that in the short term we may continue to face a turbulent economic environment. We remain focused on the long term with an approach that is mindful of the context. As always, our efforts are centered on the product and the client experience, whilst we continue to strengthen our industrial capabilities and our organization.”
In the first half, group net profit amounted to 386 million euros compared with 383 million euros in the same period last year.
Adjusted operating profit was up 8 percent to 619 million euros, corresponding to a margin of 22.6 percent, in line with the previous year notwithstanding higher investments behind the brands.
Prada’s retail sales at constant exchange rates were down 1.9 percent in the first half to 1.65 billion euros, “showing good resilience,” said chief financial officer Andrea Bonini, given the challenging context. The performance in the second quarter was mostly impacted by Japan and Europe due to lower tourist flows, while America and Asia-Pacific did sequentially better, he said. In the second quarter Prada retail sales decreased 3.6 percent.
“We have gone through a period where we have refused to imagine that the industry was resetting,” said Guerra. “Then we have had a lot of fears and a lot of people that didn’t know exactly how to tackle this new world. Then we understood today we are simply navigating in this new world. This is the new world. We’re ready for this. We needed to have collections right for this new world, collections that have a soul, products that are able to give you emotions, that will satisfy aspiring consumers that today are a little bit weaker and very wealthy people that are looking for unique and personalized products.”
No CEO Appointment Imminent at Prada
Guerra has been acting as the Prada brand’s CEO ad interim, following the exit of Gianfranco D’Attis at the end of June, and when asked about a potential successor, he said that “the Prada brand is unique, and at times we forget that this is a first-generation brand that maybe doesn’t need a CEO, but needs a kind of bright coordination between very strong people, ideas, souls, creativity, thoughts, sometimes going with the flow, sometimes going exactly the opposite of the flow. So I’ve been taking personally this task, and I will keep on doing that. And we will judge in due course. But if it is an interim, it’s a long one.”
Looking at Prada specifically, Guerra offered three bullet points. “First, the brand, the shows, image, foundations, pillars are all loved also in this resetting of the industry. Two, we have invested and worked incredibly hard on new products and collections that we have been launching, and we feel that the product structure of these collections and the price structure with more stretching between entry price and higher prices, are very correct in this moment of the industry. Three, we have been elevating our relationship with our consumers, our hospitality, day after day.”
Miu Miu‘s Potential
Miu Miu’s retail sales climbed 49 percent to 780 million euros in the first half, gaining across all categories and regions, now contributing to 32 percent of the total. In the second quarter they were up 40 percent.
Special projects such as Miu Miu Upcycled, Miu Miu Custom Studio and Miu Miu Gymnasium kept the brand in the spotlight, while events like Miu Miu Summer Reads, Literary Club and Tales & Tellers contributed to engage with the brand’s community. As reported, Miu Miu once again took the top spot on the latest Lyst hottest brands ranking for the second quarter of 2025.
Miu Miu has been strengthening the bond with its consumers, an “even stronger and deeper link compared to six and 12 months ago,” said Guerra. “We had a very well-balanced growth between products and geographies and huge investments and the results are paying off.” The executive still sees great untapped potential for the brand, and the recently opened London flagship reflects Miu Miu’s rebalancing in Europe, he said. Guerra also sees opportunities in leather goods, even if this category in the last three years has been the fastest growing at Miu Miu, and in North America.
The Versace Deal
In April, the group revealed the acquisition of Versace from Capri Holdings for an enterprise value of 1.25 billion euros and the transaction is expected to close in the second half of the year. For this reason, when asked for details about the future of the brand, Guerra demurred. “Versace is not our company, and therefore it’s very unusual to comment.”
Pressed for visibility on the closing, he said “we have an estimate that tells us that between September, October, November, we should be able to finish up and start. So at the beginning of 2026 we will be able to share much more information regarding what we’re going to do. I think that when we signed the agreement, we said that it will take time, which means that we need to do things carefully. It’s important not to kill the baby while you cure it. So we will go as fast as we can and as prudent as we can in terms of branding and identity positioning.”
Sales by Markets
In the first half, sales in Asia-Pacific were up 8 percent to 838 million euros, representing 34 percent of the total, with similar trends in the first and second quarters amid broadly unchanged conditions in the region, notwithstanding the headwinds faced in Japan, said Bonini.
Revenues in Europe rose 7 percent to 728 million euros. The second quarter was impacted by lower tourist spending on tough comps on a multiyear basis. Local demand remained broadly stable in the second quarter.
The Americas rose 10 percent to 424 million euros, with the second quarter improving supported by both local and tourist demand.
Sales in Japan were up 6 percent to 326 million euros, decelerating compared with exceptionally high tourism in 2024 and in the second quarter in particular. Similarly to Europe, local demand proved more resilient. Revenues in the Middle East climbed 24 percent to 137 million euros.
In addition to the geopolitical issues, Bonini pointed to a decreasing number of American tourists in Europe. “Tourism is expected to be a little bit softer in the third quarter.”
“I think we have stronger collections, probably even ahead of last year in terms of timing,” said Guerra and the “Japanese situation and American tourist situation should flatten out.”
Product Mix and Pricing
Guerra said the product mix is “an obsession, and we have a great opportunity to sell at higher prices. We’ve been improving in the way we liaise with consumers, the way we have developed all our new stores, the level of hospitality that we are offering today, but I think we should remain credible at entry price, it’s not about lowering our prices. I think that we have well-balanced collections.” He said there had been “a maintenance price increase at the end of June.”
In the first half, Church’s revenues were up 4 percent to 15 million euros.
The group closed the period with a net cash position of 352 million euros, after a dividend payment of 398 million euros and capital expenditure of 294 million euros.