Investing.com – Shares of European luxury companies were higher on Tuesday, buoyed by a fourth-quarter decline in sales at industry giant which was not as deep as analysts had anticipated.
Peers to the Gucci owner, such as and , had risen by more than 2% in mid-morning European trading. Kering-rival , the European conglomerate whose operations span from fashion to wine and spirits, had also ticked up by 0.8%.
Kering’s shares, meanwhile, had surged by over 10%, adding to an already sharp climb since the appointment of new CEO Luca de Meo was announced last June.
The former head of carmaker Renault, de Meo has been tasked with overseeing a sweeping turnaround in Kering fortunes. He has begun his tenure by zeroing in on corralling the firm’s debt pile and simplifying its governance structure, and sold Kering’s beauty business and some brand licenses to L’Oreal in a 4 billion-euro deal in October.
In the fourth quarter, de Meo’s first at the helm of the company, currency-adjusted total sales fell by 3% versus a year ago, although Visible Alpha forecasts cited by Reuters had anticipated a dip of 5%.
Speaking to analysts and investors, de Meo vowed to bring Kering to growth in 2026 and deliver an increase of margin in all of its brands.
Attention now turns to the end of February, when Gucci’s new creative director Demna is set to unveil his first offerings at a show in Milan. For Kering, much rides on the success of Gucci, which makes up a vast amount of its overall profit.
Revenue at Gucci slumped by 10%, the tenth straight quarterly decrease in sales at the famous label. Still, the decline was not as steep as many observers had feared, according to Reuters.