French premium group SMCP has reported a 4.4 percent drop in sales in the third quarter as it faced a challenging trading backdrop.

The group, whose portfolio comprises labels Sandro, Maje, Claudie Pierlot, and Fursac, generated sales of 294.9 million euros in Q3, down from 308.4 million euros a year earlier.

Breaking it down by brand, sales at Sandro fell 4.6 percent to 143.3 million euros, while sales at Maje dropped 6.3 percent to 112.4 million euros. Sales at ‘Other Brands’ edged up 2.3 percent to 39.2 million euros.

In terms of market, the biggest drop was recorded in the Americas, where sales fell 12.9 percent to 42.7 million euros.

“While the activity in Canada is still heavily impacted by the deep reconstruction of the retail market environment and the lack of tourism, sales in the US were more resilient despite a complex economic context,” the company said.

It also noted an “outstanding” comparable performance in 2022.

In the group’s home market of France, sales fell 1.6 percent to 97.5 million euros, while sales in the wider EMEA region dropped 2.2 percent to 96.5 million euros.

In APAC, sales dropped 5.6 percent to 58.2 million euros.

SMCP: Nine-month sales edge higher

Despite the overall sales drop, the company hailed “resilient sales in a deteriorating environment” as it met its Q3 adjusted guidance.

And on a nine-month basis, sales were up 3.5 percent to 904.7 million euros.

SMCP CEO Isabelle Guichot said: “As expected, in a deteriorating economic environment, with a slowdown in consumer spending in Europe and America, a slow recovery in the Chinese economy, and despite a more positive trend in the rest of Asia, we recorded a slight decline in sales over the quarter.

“In this context, for several months we have been implementing an action plan based on pursuing our full-price strategy, prioritising our investments, enhancing the quality of our physical and digital networks, and improving the productivity of our teams.

“This action plan is starting to bear fruit, and we expect to see an increasing impact in the fourth quarter. Despite the macroeconomic environment, we are confident that our action plan, supported by our dedicated teams and the strong desirability of our brands, will enable us to pursue our growth trajectory.”