Geox lowers 2023 sales guidance after setback in May

(Reuters) - Italian shoemaker Geox on Thursday cut its 2023 sales guidance after revenues grew only slowly in the first half of the year due to unseasonal weather in May and inflation in key markets.

The group, with a presence in 110 countries, now expects sales to grow between 4% and 6% compared to 2022, down from previous guidance of 6-8%, it said in a statement.

Its revenues in the first six months of 2023 were up 4% to 353.6 million euros ($388.8 million), from 340.6 million in the same period the year before. The positive trend was interupted by an 8% like-for-like decrease in May sales, the group said.

Sales in Russia and Ukraine, which together account for about 10% of the group's total, were in line with plans at about 37 million euros despite the weakening of the ruble, the firm said.

Geox however improved its guidance on gross margin to a yearly increase of between 220 and 240 base points in the full year, expecting cost pressures to ease.

"There is room for improvement in the supply chain as we're really experiencing a reduction in transportation costs," the group's chief executive Livio Libralesso told analysts.

Brokerage Banca Akros had noted ahead of the results that while forecasts are likely on the optimistic side, "we remain of the idea that GEOX is in a relaunch mode".

($1 = 0.9094 euros)

(Reporting by Alessandro Parodi, editing by Keith Weir)