Wall Street Journal
By Sofia Celeste
Italian fashion house Prada SpA Monday said rising sales world-wide helped its net profit and sales surge to records in the fiscal year ended Jan. 31, as the luxury-goods maker prepares for its highly anticipated market listing in Hong Kong.
In a statement, the family-run company said net profit more than doubled, rising to €250.8 million ($351.9 million) from €100.2 million in the same period a year earlier.
Prada said sales rose 31% to €2.05 billion, compared with €1.56 billion last year. Healthy cash flow helped the group trim its net debt to €408.6 million as of Jan. 31 compared with €485.3 million in Jan. 31 of 2010.
The company didn't give any further details on its upcoming listing in Hong Kong, a primary business hub of the Asia Pacific region. Asia Pacific, which includes China, is now Prada's largest market, where the group saw sales rise 63% to €645.7 million in the fiscal year.
"Today the group presents itself with a strong industrial and distribution structure poised to take advantage of the best opportunities offered in all markets," Patrizio Bertelli, chief executive of the company, said in the statement.
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, or Ebitda, reached €535.9 million, up 84.7% compared with a year earlier.
Prada, which also owns brands such as Miu Miu and Church's, is 95% owned by designer Miuccia Prada, her husband, Bertelli, and other family members. Italian bank Intesa Sanpaolo SpA owns the remaining 5%.
Prada hasn't set the date for its IPO but sources close to Dow Jones Newswires have said that the market listing could take place as early as July of 2011 and would value Prada at least €6 billion.
