Italian sportswear group BasicNet sees revenue rise nearly 40% in Q1 2019

Italian sportswear group BasicNet, owner of Kappa, Robe di Kappa, Superga and K-Way, kept the momentum going in the first quarter of 2019, after producing a consolidated revenue growth of 14.7% in the 2018 financial year.

In the first three months of the current financial year, BasicNet recorded a 38.9% increase in revenue, driven by the recent acquisition of Sport Finance, the group’s distributor in France, the UK and Spain.

The group’s consolidated revenue in Q1 2019 was €74.6 million, with direct sales by its Italian subsidiary BasicItalia and its licensed French distributor worth €61.7 million.

Total sales, including those of the products produced and distributed by BasicNet's other licensees, reached €241.6 million in Q1, up 16.1% at current exchange rates.

BasicNet is growing in all of its markets, especially in the USA, where revenue increased by 36%, but also in  Europe (up 13.4%) and in Asia-Oceania (up 17.1%). Also notable was the significant growth spurt in the Middle East and Africa, where revenue grew 56.3%.

Lorenzo and Alessandro, sons of BasicNet’s founder and president Marco Boglione, have joined the board of directors. Their father will be gradually handing over to them control over marketing, product development, IT and HR.

Their appointment to the board was ratified at the shareholder’s AGM, which also approved the distribution of a dividend worth in total €6.5 million, equivalent to €0.12 per outstanding share.

Federico Trono, who has been working for the group since 2007, has replaced Gianni Crespi as group CEO. Lorenzo Boglione, 33, is the group’s vice-president sales, while his brother Alessandro, 32, is the CEO of BasicItalia, the company which distributes under licence the group's brands’ products in Italy.

FashionNetwork.com with reporting from Ansa.it