Hugo Boss shares plunge on profit warning amid slumping China demand

Hugo Boss shares plunged as much as 10% Tuesday after the company cut its sales outlook, becoming the latest high-end fashion line to warn of persistent woes in the luxury sector.

The German fashion house said Monday that it expects full-year sales of up to 4.35 billion euros ($4.73 billion), down slightly from a previous forecast of up to 4.45 billion euros.

The company attributed the revised outlook to “persistent macroeconomic and geopolitical challenges” and cited China and the U.K. as particularly challenging markets.

Shares pared losses slightly to trade down 9.3% as of 9:06 a.m. London time.

“We are operating in a period of significant global macro uncertainty, which also affected our performance in the second quarter,” CEO Daniel Grieder said in a statement.

“Although the timing of any macro recovery remains uncertain, our strategy of consistently investing in our strong brands, BOSS and HUGO, gives us confidence in our ability to continue driving above-trend growth and capturing further market share,” he added.

The guidance cut is the company’s second so far this year, after the retailer in March said that 2024 sales growth was likely to slow to 3% to 6%. Monday’s revision moderates that target further to 1% to 4% growth in group currency.

Hugo Boss’ group sales fell 1% on a preliminary basis in the second quarter to 1.02 billion euros, driven primarily by declines in Asia and Europe, it said Monday.

Second-quarter operating profit slumped 42% year-on-year to 70 million euros, reflecting “softer sales trends and strategic investments into the business,” the company said in its preliminary report.

Grieder said he expects the company to return to profitable growth in the second half of the year.