Kering – Press release – 2022 Annual Results

Press release – 2022 Annual Results – 15 02 2023

VERY SOLID 2022 PERFORMANCES

MIXED FOURTH QUARTER

Group revenue: €20,351 million
up 15% reported, up 9% comparable

Recurring operating income: €5,589 million

Net income attributable to the Group: €3,614 million
Recommended ordinary dividend raised to €14 per share

“All our Houses posted record revenues and contributed to higher operating income in 2022. But these good performances were not uniformly up to our ambitions and potential. Beyond the challenges some of our Houses faced, notably towards the end of the year, we are convinced that we are pursuing the right strategy for the long term. Our 47,000 people share a strong entrepreneurial culture as well as values of responsibility and engagement. Together, we nurture the desirability and exclusivity of our brands, so they all achieve market positions commensurate with their unique heritage and recognized creativity. In an environment that remains uncertain, I have no doubt that 2023 will be another year of success for our Houses and of growth for our Group.”

François-Henri Pinault, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

• Group revenue exceeded €20 billion in 2022, an increase of 15% as reported and 9% on a comparable basis.
  • Revenue from the directly operated retail network, which includes e-commerce sites, rose 10% on a comparable basis in 2022, driven in particular by Western Europe and Japan.
  • In the fourth quarter of 2022, total sales were down 2% year-on-year as reported and 7% on a comparable basis, with mixed performances across Houses and regions.
• All Group activities contributed to the 11% rise in recurring operating income, which reached €5.6 billion. Recurring operating margin was 27.5%.
• Net profit attributable to the Group amounted to €3.6 billion, up 14%.
• Free cash flow from operations remained high, at over €3.2 billion.

Financial indicators

(1)   Change on a comparable scope and exchange rate basis.
(2)  Recurring net income attributable to the Group: net income from continuing operations attributable to the Group, excluding non-recurring items.

Operating performance

Gucci: strengthening fundamentals in a challenging year

Gucci’s 2022 revenue amounted to €10.5 billion (up 8% as reported and up 1% on a comparable basis). Sales in the directly operated retail network grew 1% on a comparable basis. Wholesale revenue was stable year-on-year.

In the fourth quarter of 2022, Gucci’s revenue was down 14% on a comparable basis relative to the same period in 2021. In directly operated stores, sales dropped 15% from a very high base and were significantly affected by the situation in China during the quarter.

Gucci’s recurring operating income totaled €3.7 billion in 2022. Recurring operating margin was 35.6%, notably reflecting investments aimed at nurturing the House’s future growth.

Yves Saint Laurent: performance in line with the House’s ambitions

Yves Saint Laurent’s 2022 revenue amounted to €3.3 billion, up 31% as reported and 23% on a comparable basis. Sales from the House’s directly operated retail network rose sharply, up 28%, while wholesale revenue was up 6%.

In the fourth quarter of 2022, sales rose 4% on a comparable basis, thanks to good performance in the directly operated retail network, where sales were up 7%. Wholesale revenue declined 13%.

Yves Saint Laurent achieved recurring operating income of over €1 billion in 2022, and its recurring operating margin exceeded 30%.

Bottega Veneta: record year, timeless positioning

Bottega Veneta’s 2022 revenue amounted to €1.7 billion, up 16% as reported and 11% on a comparable basis. Growth was driven by the directly operated retail network, where sales rose 15% on a comparable basis. Wholesale revenue was stable year-on-year.

Fourth quarter 2022 sales were up 6% on a comparable basis, supported by good momentum in the directly operated retail network (up 4%) and in wholesale (up 13%).

Bottega Veneta achieved recurring operating income of €366 million in 2022, yielding a recurring operating margin of 21%.

Other Houses: sharp growth and long-term investments

2022 revenue from Other Houses amounted to €3.9 billion, an increase of 18% as reported and 16% on a comparable basis. Growth was driven by the directly operated retail network, where sales were up 27% on a comparable basis. Wholesale revenue was down 6% on a comparable basis.

Balenciaga had an excellent 2022, despite a difficult month of December. Alexander McQueen performed well in the handbags and ready-to-wear categories, and Brioni confirmed its recovery.

Kering’s Jewelry Houses once again achieved outstanding progress and reached significant milestones. Boucheron posted firm, steady growth, while Pomellato continued to perform well in Western Europe and Japan. Finally, Qeelin grew at a rapid pace.

In the fourth quarter of 2022, revenue of Other Houses was down 4% on a comparable basis. Sales in the Other Houses’ directly operated retail network rose 2% during the quarter, driven by double-digit growth in Western Europe and Japan, while wholesale revenue was down 26%.

The Other Houses generated recurring operating income of €558 million in 2022, an increase of 22%. Recurring operating margin was 14.4%.

Kering Eyewear and Corporate 

Kering Eyewear’s 2022 revenue broke through the billion-euro mark (up 58% as reported and up 27% on a comparable basis) to €1.1 billion, confirming the validity of its strategy and boosted by the contributions of Lindberg and Maui Jim. This excellent performance was confirmed in the fourth quarter of 2022, with revenue up 30% on a comparable basis.

Kering Eyewear’s 2022 recurring operating income was €203 million, 2.5 times the 2021 level.

After deduction of corporate costs, the 2022 recurring operating income of the Kering Eyewear and Corporate segment amounted to a negative €88 million, a material improvement compared to 2021.

Financial performance

Net financial expense totaled €260 million in 2022, a year-on-year improvement of 5%.

The effective tax rate on recurring income was 27.8%.

Net income attributable to the Group was sizable at €3.6 billion.

Earnings per share were up 15%.

Cash flow and financial position

Free cash flow from operations exceeded €3.2 billion in 2022.

At December 31, 2022, Kering’s net debt amounted to €2.3 billion.

Dividend

At its February 14, 2023 meeting, Kering’s Board of Directors decided to ask shareholders to approve a cash dividend of €14.00 per share at the Annual General Meeting to be held on April 27, 2023 to approve the financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2022.
An interim dividend of €4.50 per share was paid on January 18, 2023. If approved, a final dividend of €9.50 would be paid on May 4, 2023.

Outlook

To achieve its long-term vision, Kering invests in the development of its Houses, enabling them to continuously strengthen their desirability and the exclusivity of their distribution, strike a perfect balance between creative innovation and timelessness, and achieve the highest standards in terms of quality, sustainability, and experience for their customers.
In an environment of ongoing economic and geopolitical uncertainty in the near term, Kering will continue to execute on its strategy and vision, in pursuit of two key ambitions: maintain a trajectory of profitable growth resulting in high levels of cash flow generation and return on capital employed, and confirm its status as one of the most influential groups in the Luxury industry.

***

At its February 14, 2023 meeting, Kering’s Board of Directors, chaired by François-Henri Pinault, approved the consolidated financial statements for 2022. The consolidated financial statements have been audited and are in the process of being certified.

WEBCAST

Kering will present its 2022 results in a webcast, which can be accessed here at 8:30 a.m. (CET) on Wednesday, February 15, 2023.

The presentation will be followed by a Q&A session for analysts and investors.

The slides (PDF) will be available ahead of the webcast from the www.kering.com website.

A replay of the webcast will also be available at www.kering.com.

The notes to the consolidated financial statements are included in the 2022 financial document available at www.kering.com.

About Kering

A global Luxury group, Kering manages the development of a series of renowned Houses in Fashion, Leather Goods and Jewelry: Gucci, Saint Laurent, Bottega Veneta, Balenciaga, Alexander McQueen, Brioni, Boucheron, Pomellato, DoDo, Qeelin, as well as Kering Eyewear. By placing creativity at the heart of its strategy, Kering enables its Houses to set new limits in terms of their creative expression while crafting tomorrow’s Luxury in a sustainable and responsible way. We capture these beliefs in our signature: “Empowering Imagination”. In 2022, Kering had over 47,000 employees and revenue of €20.4 billion.

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HIGHLIGHTS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS SINCE JANUARY 1, 2022

Sale of Girard-Perregaux and Ulysse Nardin to their management
January 24, 2022 – Kering announced the signature of an agreement to sell its entire stake (100%) in Sowind Group SA, which owns the Swiss watch manufacturers Girard-Perregaux and Ulysse Nardin, to its current management. The transaction was completed on May 31, 2022 as planned.

Kering Eyewear’s acquisition of Maui Jim
March 14, 2022 – Kering Eyewear signed an agreement to acquire US eyewear company Maui Jim, Inc. Founded in 1987, Maui Jim is the world’s largest independently owned high-end eyewear brand with a leading position in North America. Recognized for its outstanding technicity, Maui Jim offers a broad spectrum of high-quality sun and optical frames sold in more than 100 countries and has developed the revolutionary lens technology known as PolarizedPlus2®. The transaction was completed on October 3, 2022 and Maui Jim is consolidated in Kering’s consolidated financial statements since October 1, 2022.

Partnership agreement in support of integrating young, vulnerable and disabled people
April 22, 2022 – Kering and the French Ministry of Labor, Employment and Integration signed a partnership charter for the integration of young people, vulnerable individuals and people with disabilities, with the aim of supporting them in the job market. Kering has undertaken to take practical action to help young people gain employment and make roles accessible to disabled people through recruitment, work/study programs, mentoring and immersive work experience through the Contrat d’Engagement Jeune (youth commitment contract).

Dual-tranche bond issue for a total amount of €1.5 billion
April 28, 2022 – Kering issued €1.5 billion of new bonds, comprising one tranche of €750 million with a three-year maturity and a coupon of 1.25% and a €750 million tranche with an eight-year maturity and a coupon of 1.875%. This issue, in line with the Group’s active liquidity management, enables Kering to enhance its funding flexibility through refinancing of existing debt and the partial financing of the Maui Jim acquisition. The great success of this issue with investors underscores the market’s confidence in the credit quality of the Group. Kering’s long-term debt is rated “A” with a stable outlook by Standard & Poor’s.

Launch of an employee share ownership program
May 4, 2022 – Kering announced the launch of its first employee share ownership program. This transaction was implemented in France, Italy, United Kingdom, United States, Mainland China, Hong Kong SAR, Japan and South Korea. Entitled KeringForYou, the program gave eligible employees the opportunity to become Kering shareholders with preferential terms. By investing in this way, employees become directly involved in their company’s development and future performance. The price for subscribing shares under the program was set at €394, corresponding to Kering’s average opening share price on Euronext Paris during the 20 trading sessions from April 19 to May 16, 2022, less a 20% discount and rounded up to the nearest cent.
At the end of the subscription period from May 19, 2022 to June 9, 2022, 102,862 shares had been subscribed (including employer contributions). The shares were settled and delivered on July 7, 2022 through a capital increase involving the issue of new ordinary shares.

Publication of the fifth edition of Kering’s standards for sustainability
September 30, 2022 – In 2018, Kering published its first set of Standards for Raw Materials and Manufacturing Processes. Year after year, the Group has continually developed the suite that serves to guide its sustainability strategy. In this endeavor, following its focus on synthetics and silk in 2019, packaging, visual marketing and innovation in 2020, as well as circularity and ‘faux fur’ in 2021, Kering added two new chapters to the 2022 version: “Cut, Make, Trim” and “Sustainability claims”. The updates address growing interests and emerging concerns such as regenerative agriculture and the product end-of-life phase with a further focus on innovation. Reviewed annually, these major developments reflect the Group’s commitment to transparency and its open source approach.

Launch of the Climate Fund for Nature
December 13, 2022 – At the 15th Conference of Parties (COP) of the Convention on Biological Diversity taking place in Montreal, Kering and L’Occitane announced that they were teaming up to create the Climate Fund for Nature. This ambitious fund will mobilize resources from the Luxury Fashion and Beauty sectors to protect and restore nature, with a particular focus on empowering women. €140 million have already been committed by the two groups out of an eventual target of €300 million. The fund is open to other partner companies to support the scaling up of its positive impacts on the ground. The fund is managed by Mirova, a subsidiary of Natixis Investment Managers that is dedicated to sustainable investing.

Completion of the stock repurchase program
The stock repurchase program announced on August 25, 2021, with the aim of repurchasing up to 2.0% of Kering’s share capital over a 24-month period, was completed on December 15, 2022. Between August 25, 2021 and December 15, 2022, 2.6 million shares were repurchased. Of this total, 1,050,000 shares have already been canceled.
In 2022, Kering carried out the second, third and fourth tranches of the program:

• The second tranche of 650,000 shares, representing around 0.5% of the share capital, was completed on April 6, 2022 and 325,000 of the repurchased shares were canceled on December 12, 2022.
• The third tranche of 650,000 shares, representing around 0.5% of the share capital, was completed on July 19, 2022 and 400,000 of the repurchased shares were canceled on December 12, 2022.
• The fourth tranche of 650,000 shares, representing around 0.5% of the share capital, was completed on December 15, 2022. At the meeting of the Board of Directors of February 14, 2023, the decision was taken to cancel the 650,000 shares repurchased in this tranche by the end of 2023.

APPOINTMENTS AND MOVEMENTS

Changes in the membership of Kering’s Board of Directors
In 2022, Kering’s Board of Directors, in coordination with the Appointments and Governance Committee, confirmed the following changes in its membership:

• Resignations of Sophie L’Hélias and Jean Liu from their roles as Independent Directors;
• Appointments of Véronique Weill, Yonca Dervisoglu and Serge Weinberg as Independent Directors;
• Appointment of Véronique Weill as Lead Independent Director;
• Appointment of Jean-Pierre Denis as Climate Change Lead;
• Renewal of Daniela Riccardi’s term of office as Independent Director;
• Non-renewal of Yseulys Costes’ term of office as Independent Director;
• Appointment of Vincent Schaal by the Workforce Relations and Economic Committee as Director representing employees, replacing Claire Lacaze;
• Adjustments to the membership of the Board Committees.

As a result, since December 31, 2022, Kering’s Board of Directors is made up of 13 members, including:

• six independent directors (55% of Board members excluding Directors representing employees in accordance with the AFEP-MEDEF code);
• five women (45% of Board members excluding Directors representing employees in accordance with the AFEP-MEDEF code);
• five different nationalities (British, French, Italian, Ivorian and Turkish).

Appointment of Gianfilippo Testa as CEO of Alexander McQueen
March 21, 2022 – Kering announced the appointment of Gianfilippo Testa as CEO of Alexander McQqueen, effective May 2022. He reports to François-Henri Pinault. He succeeds Emmanuel Gintzburger, who decided to leave the Group to pursue new professional challenges outside Kering.

Departure of Alessandro Michele as Gucci’s Creative Director
November 23, 2022 – Gucci announced that Alessandro Michele was stepping down as Creative Director of Gucci. Alessandro Michele had been at the creative helm of the House since January 21, 2015, and played a fundamental part in making the brand what it is today through his groundbreaking creativity, while staying true to the renowned codes of the House.

Appointment of Sabato De Sarno as Gucci’s Creative Director
January 28, 2023 – Kering and Gucci announced Sabato De Sarno’s arrival as Creative Director of Gucci. Mr. De Sarno will present his debut runway collection at Milan Women’s Fashion Week in September 2023. In his new role, De Sarno will lead the House’s Design Studio reporting to Marco Bizzarri, President and CEO of Gucci, with the responsibility for defining and expressing the House’s creative vision across the women’s, men’s, leather goods, accessories and lifestyle collections.

Appointment of Raffaella Cornaggia as Chief Executive Officer of Kering Beauté
February 3, 2023 – Kering announced the appointment of Raffaella Cornaggia as CEO of Kering Beauté. Based in Paris and reporting to Jean-François Palus, Group Managing Director of Kering, she will be a member of the Group’s Executive Committee. In her new role, and supported by a team of seasoned professionals, she will help develop expertise in the Beauty category for Bottega Veneta, Balenciaga, Alexander McQueen, Pomellato and Qeelin. The creation of Kering Beauté will enable the Group to support these brands in the development of the Beauty category, which is a natural extension of their universe. Kering is confident it can create value for the Group and its Houses, drawing on each of their unique identities in a way that is fully consistent with their strategy and market positioning.

CONSOLIDATED INCOME STATEMENT

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME

CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEET

Assets

Equity and liabilities

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN EQUITY

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF CASH FLOW

REVENUE FOR THE FIRST, SECOND, THIRD AND FOURTH QUARTERS OF 2022

⁽¹⁾ Change on a comparable scope and exchange rate basis.

MAIN DEFINITIONS

“Reported” and “comparable” revenue
The Group’s “reported” revenue corresponds to published revenue. The Group also uses “comparable” data to measure organic growth. “Comparable” revenue refers to 2021 revenue adjusted as follows by:
–        neutralizing the portion of revenue corresponding to entities divested in 2021;
–        including the portion of revenue corresponding to entities acquired in 2022;
–        remeasuring 2021 revenue at 2022 exchange rates.
These adjustments give rise to comparative data at constant scope and exchange rates, which serve to measure organic growth.

Recurring operating income
The Group’s operating income includes all revenues and expenses directly related to its activities, whether these revenues and expenses are recurring or arise from non-recurring decisions or transactions.
Other non-recurring operating income and expenses consist of items that, by their nature, amount or frequency, could distort the assessment of the Group’s operating performance as reflected in its recurring operating income. They include changes in Group structure, the impairment of goodwill and brands and, where material, of property, plant and equipment and intangible assets, capital gains and losses on disposals of non-current assets, restructuring costs and disputes.
“Recurring operating income” is therefore a major indicator for the Group, defined as the difference between operating income and other non-recurring operating income and expenses. This intermediate line item is intended to facilitate the understanding of the operating performance of the Group and its Houses and can therefore be used as a way to estimate recurring performance. This indicator is presented in a manner that is consistent and stable over the long term in order to ensure the continuity and relevance of financial information.

EBITDA
The Group uses EBITDA to monitor its operating performance. This financial indicator corresponds to recurring operating income plus net charges to depreciation, amortization and provisions on non-current operating assets recognized in recurring operating income.

Free cash from operations, available cash flow from operations and available cash flow
The Group uses an intermediate line item, “Free cash flow from operations”, to monitor its financial performance. This financial indicator measures net operating cash flow less net operating investments (defined as acquisitions and disposals of property, plant and equipment and intangible assets).
The Group has also defined an indicator, “Available cash flow from operations”, in order to take into account capitalized fixed lease payments (repayments of principal and interest) pursuant to IFRS 16, and thereby reflect all of its operating cash flows.
“Available cash flow” therefore corresponds to available cash flow from operations plus interest and dividends received, less interest paid and equivalent (excluding leases).

Net debt
Net debt is one of the Group’s main financial indicators, and is defined as borrowings less cash and cash equivalents. Consequently, the cost of net debt corresponds to all financial income and expenses associated with these items, including the impact of derivative instruments used to hedge the fair value of borrowings.

Effective tax rate on recurring income
The effective tax rate on recurring income corresponds to the effective tax rate excluding tax effects relating to other non-recurring operating income and expenses.

Attachment

• Press release – 2022 Annual Results – 15 02 2023