By Elisa Anzolin
MILAN (Reuters) -Italian luxury group Prada (OTC:PRDSY) posted on Tuesday higher revenues and operating profit for the first half, beating analyst expectations and defying the downturn in luxury spending that is hurting many rivals.
Another outstanding performance from the Miu Miu brand and double-digit sales growth in Asia and Europe helped to power an increase of 17% in net revenue at constant exchange rates, to 2.55 billion euros ($2.75 billion).
Retail sales at the Miu Miu label, whose creative director is Miuccia Prada, almost doubled in the first six months of the year and now account for nearly a quarter of the group's retail sales. Retail sales of the larger Prada brand rose by 6%.
Not surprising many of the analysts' questions during the conference call focused on the smaller brand.
The group's Chief Executive, Andrea Guerra, said that Europe and Asia are Miu Miu's main markets and the brand has now started to focus on the U.S.
The overall positive sales trend seen in the first half of the year has remained unchanged in July, Guerra told analysts in the conference call.
However, in this context, the business in China has been "a little bit more complicated" this month compared to the previous ones, while many other regions are performing better, he added.
Prada's operating profit rose to 575 million euros in the first six months of the year, beating the 552 million seen in an analyst consensus provided by Visible Alpha.
"While we are vigilant, we remain committed to our strategy and to our ambition to deliver solid, sustainable and above-market growth," Guerra said in a statement.
In a separate interview the manager said he does not see big positive developments in the luxury sector in the next 6-9 months.
Some luxury groups have struggled in recent months, with demand in countries such as China having tapered off.
($1 = 0.9258 euros)