Hugo Boss forecasts accelerated sales growth and rising earnings for 2014

Hugo Boss, the German luxury-clothing maker, forecast accelerated sales growth and rising earnings for this year as the company adds stores to its own retail network and spends more to promote itself in Asia.

Revenue adjusted for currency swings, and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation, will increase by “high single-digit” percentages, the clothier said today. Sales gained 4 per cent to €2.43 billion last year, while profit climbed 7 per cent to €565 million, the maker of of clothes, shoes, bags and accessories said February 7th. Even so, most analysts were expecting faster growth, Andreas Inderst, an analyst at Exane BNP Paribas, which has an outperform recommendation on the stock, said in a note. The “guidance is slightly below expectations”, of 10 per cent earnings growth in 2014. – (Bloomberg)