Shoemaker Geox cuts full-year sales outlook, wholesale weighs on Q1 figures

(Reuters) - Italian shoemaker Geox cut its full-year sales growth outlook on Tuesday, citing inflationary pressures as it reported a double-digit yearly drop in first-quarter revenues due to weakness in its wholesale channel.

The maker of breathable, waterproof footwear now expects 2024 revenue to drop by a mid-single-digit percentage from last year, having previously forecast sales to be flat year-on-year.

In the January-March quarter, the group recorded consolidated sales at 193.6 million euros ($209.38 million), down 13.5% year-on-year at current exchange rates.

Its wholesale channel performance saw a yearly fall of almost 22%, attributed to a "significantly lower than expected" order intake for the Spring/Summer line-up for 2024.

"The persistence of the complexity and uncertainty observed in all our major reference markets in these first months of 2024 lead us to maintain a prudent and focused approach to the growth of the most profitable markets," said CEO Enrico Mistron.

However, Geox confirmed its target of a 50 basis-point increase in its operating margin compared to 2023. Mistron, who was appointed to lead the group in March, said that Geox was developing a new 2025-2027 strategic plan to be presented this financial year.

($1 = 0.9246 euros)

(Reporting by Enrico Sciacovelli; Editing by David Goodman and Tomasz Janowski)