MILAN — The Prada Group continued to deliver growth in the first quarter of 2026 against the toughest comps in the year, as management believes more opportunities and potential lie ahead.
While acknowledging that “the world is constantly giving us new surprises, and we’re certainly living through a prolonged, challenging and unique period for our business, for the industry and for the world,” chief executive officer Andrea Guerra is seeing the silver lining.
Speaking with chief financial analyst Andrea Bonini to analysts and the press during a conference call on Thursday, Guerra said he believes “we have two regions in the world where we still have to conquer our fair share, and it’s two big regions in the world, America and China, and we are showing those markets a very high level of commitment.”
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He cited the purchase of the building on Fifth Avenue in New York as an example. As reported, Prada bought 724 Fifth Avenue, site of its New York flagship, and the building next door at 720 Fifth Avenue for $835 million at the end of 2023. Last March, the brand opened its dedicated 13,000-square-foot men’s boutique at 720 Fifth Avenue right next door to the flagship, which houses the women’s offering and the Prada fine jewelry collection across 12,700 square feet.
“I think we have a long journey of opportunities and market share gain in both markets,” Guerra claimed.
He pointed out that the group’s first quarter was its toughest in terms of comparables, pleased that both Prada and Miu Miu reported another organic growth in the three months. This was achieved, he said, as several important changes in creative direction at “major brands” were taking place in “the first season of their products on the market.”
Guerra also spoke about additional growth potential, reporting “volumes in the entry-price segments, but also extremely great value on high-value transactions.”
He said the group is now “fully ready” for high-value transactions. “I think that we had to prove this to ourselves more than to our clients, and I think that in the last 12 to 18, months, we have been able to do it. We sold more precious bags in these first four months compared to all of 2025 so we are evolving and we are growing similarly. We always had a way to attract new clients with certain product categories.”
At the same time, the Re-Nylon with Sea Beyond collections were “very well-received, so I think we are going both ways.”
In the three months ended March 31, group net revenues rose 6 percent to 1.42 billion euros. At constant currency and including the Versace brand, an acquisition deal completed in December, sales were up 14 percent. Excluding that contribution, revenues rose 3 percent.
Group retail sales totaled 1.24 billion euros, up 2 percent, driven by full price. At constant currency they rose 10 percent and excluding Versace they were up 1 percent.
“We are navigating a highly complex environment, marked by persistent uncertainty and rapidly evolving geopolitical dynamics,” said Prada Group chairman and executive director Patrizio Bertelli in a statement. “Against this backdrop, we continue to center our brands’ performance on consistent and authentic creativity while aiming to constantly improve agility and flexibility across the organization; our own manufacturing capabilities are a key asset in this regard.”
The group relies on 23 industrial facilities in Italy; one in Northampton, England, for Church’s; one in Romania, and the tannery Mégisserie Hervy in Isle, France.
“Looking ahead, we will continue to execute with confidence, leveraging the solid foundations we have built over the years and maintaining a strong sense of responsibility toward our people and partners,” concluded Bertelli.
Performance by Brand
At constant currency, Prada sales inched up 0.4 percent to 771 million euros, in line with the last quarter of 2025, supported by further improvements in the Americas and Asia-Pacific, in particular mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau. At current exchange, sales were down 6.7 percent. The performance was underpinned by full-price sales, despite the negative impact of the Middle East in the quarter and the continued reduction of outlet contribution. In the period, Prada represented 62 percent of total sales.
Guerra touted “a solid” performance for Prada and “a solid year” for the brand, “where underlying performance is stronger than what we report. But this is fine. We have taken further steps to reduce our exposure to outlets, and as a result, our full-price growth is above, well above, the reported break even level that you see today. And this will become more visible as we move through 2026.”
He admitted Prada experienced in the first four months of the year “a negative start during the first 15 days of January. As you all remember, we had a great holiday period, and maybe clients took a little bit of a rest, then the performance steadily turned positive and has continued to improve solidly up to today.”
At Prada, the women’s category fared better than the men’s but men are “catching up.”
In the quarter, Miu Miu revenues rose 2.4 percent to 358 million euros, accounting for 29 percent of sales, against a challenging comparison base in the same period last year, when the brand showed a 60 percent gain, and against greater headwinds from the conflict in the Middle East. At current exchange, sales were down 5 percent.
The brand in the Americas continued to register significant growth, and the Asia-Pacific region also showed a positive performance, partially offset by a slowdown in Europe, particularly in tourist spending, and in the Middle East.
Miu Miu is “a little bit newer in Europe compared to other regions in the world and we are more affected by lower tourism expenditure in Europe,” said Guerra. “I think we are building our solid foundations with our fantastic stores in Milan, Paris and London and I think that we will be stronger in the future.”
Guerra believes Miu Miu “has successfully avoided a lot of brand exposure, mistakes, excessive store expansion, or entering into many product categories. The brand ranks among the top in this durability, and we will continue to pursue our long-term growth trajectory without any kind of compromise.”
At Versace, contributing to the quarter with net revenues of 143 million euros, “we are progressing in line with our plans, simplifying the business model from many different perspectives, particularly in terms of sales channels and discounting,” said Guerra. “The trajectory so far is in line with our expectations, and revenue and [operating profit] are in line with what we expected so far. After the first four months, the third quarter will be the quarter in which we will be more challenged, because we are not doing any kind of show, but we’re getting ready for the beginning of the great journey in 2027.”
The brand will see the first collection by Pieter Mulier as chief creative officer early next year. In March, Versace’s executive chairman Lorenzo Bertelli told WWD that while progressively shifting Versace’s focus toward quality, full-price sales and distribution, repositioning the brand and optimizing the retail network, the group planned to integrate processes across functions.
About Versace’s integration, Guerra said it’s “progressing well, strengthening organization and processes ahead of the next phase of creative evolution. Our strategy, solid and well-structured on the higher end of the product range on one side, and in attracting new clients on the other, will be crucial in the coming months.”
Performance by Market
In the quarter, sales in the Asia-Pacific region increased 5 percent to 461 million euros. At constant currency, sales rose 13 percent and excluding Versace, they were up 5 percent. Miu Miu continued to show “robust growth” in the region, said Bonini, and Prada registered “further progression” reporting positive trends across mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Korea.
Sales in Europe amounted to 333 million euros, compared with 334 million euros in the same period last year. At constant currency, the region was up 2 percent and, excluding Versace, it was down 6 percent, reflecting particularly challenging comps, as the region reported a 14 percent gain in the first quarter last year. The slowdown was more pronounced in tourist spending, with local clients showing modest decline.
“Europe was slightly below average. Our home market has delivered strong comparables for over a decade. However, some stores in secondary cities have been affected in recent months by the decline in tourist spending. Italy and France are the two places where we declined a little bit more than we expected,” said Bonini.
However, there are some green shoots also in Europe, said Guerra, “some positive trends that are encouraging. But as always, I think it’s already quite complicated to read trends into quarterly results, monthly or biweekly.”
The Americas remained “buoyant,” said Bonini, with sales up 22 percent to 256 million euros. At constant currency, revenues climbed 34 percent and excluding Versace they rose 15 percent, supported by strong local demand and leveraging strengthened organizations and recent investments.
Sales in Japan fell 12 percent, but at constant currency they rose 1 percent and excluding Versace they were down 2 percent, with local consumption remaining stable against a very positive first quarter last year.
The conflict in the Middle East weighed on domestic and tourist spending, as sales in the region fell 30 percent. At constant currency revenues in the region decreased 22 percent, also excluding Versace.
Guerra said that in one month, the conflict impacted Prada by around 100 basis points, and close to 250 basis points on Miu Miu.
Guerra said the performance in the region is balanced by the fact that Middle Easterners are spending more money in their local countries. “But on the other side, you also have to consider that the main three airports of the Middle East have been slowing down. So even Asian tourism in Europe has been a little bit declining.”
Excluding the Middle East, “what we have seen in March and April is a constant improvement, and we are happy about it.”
Guerra concluded by saying that the group is committed to its ambition “to deliver above‐market growth.”