Italy's Prada to invest 60 million euros to help boost production capacity

By Elisa Anzolin

VALVIGNA, Italy (Reuters) - Italy's Prada is planning to spend 60 million euros ($66 million) on industrial capital investments this year, a large chunk of which will help double the size of its knitwear factory in Torgiano, in the central region of Umbria, the luxury group's industrial director said on Thursday.

Prada, in common with other luxury groups, is investing to enhance its production capacity and strengthen its grip on the supply chain.

In order to do so, Prada is also looking at possible small acquisitions of manufacturers.

"We have our targets," Industrial Director Massimo Vian said, adding that an acquisition is less likely in the leather sector, where the group is already well placed.

However most of investments will be absorbed by the expansion and improvement of the plants they already have and the acquisition of new technologies.

Prada said last month it aimed to hire more than 400 people in Italy by the end of the year to strengthen its production capacity and maintain growth.

Around 10% of Prada clothing is produced in-house, a percentage that rises to around 30% in the case of leather goods and to around 50% in the case of footwear, Vian told journalists on Thursday.

He was speaking at a press day at the group's industrial headquarters in the Tuscan town of Valvigna.($1 = 0.9107 euros)

(Reporting by Elisa Anzolin; Editing by Keith Weir)