Specialist
Former managing director at Valentino SpA
Agenda
- Valentino's regional growth challenges due to the coronavirus pandemic, including demand drivers, pricing policies and distribution dynamics
- Ability to compete with megabrands Louis Vuitton (PAR: MC), Gucci (PAR: KER), Hermes (PAR: RMS) and Chanel
- Organisational structure, unit economics and cost-saving opportunities
- M&A opportunities
Questions
1.
What’s your like-for-like outlook for Valentino in 2020 across retail and wholesale? What are the drivers behind that outlook? Could you highlight any regional differences across APAC, the US and Europe?
2.
Could you roughly indicate the revenue split between retail and wholesale? How significant is the wholesale channel for the business globally?
3.
What do you think is driving the slowdown in retail for Valentino compared to its peers? Direct-to- consumer has been a key focus for a lot of luxury brands.
4.
What category winners and losers are you expecting amid this crisis and through the recovery in 2020, and how could this impact Valentino in particular? What changes in consumer demand might occur across core categories such as leather goods, ready-to-wear and accessories?
5.
You mentioned that Valentino is potentially in a worse position than some of the megabrands, partly because of the wholesale penetration. Do you think secondary brands such as Valentino or monobrands face any other challenges around competing with the megabrands? Could customers return to those more established players?
6.
Would you say roughly 5-6% of Valentino’s sales are online?
7.
Could you estimate how much online growth has occurred amid the crisis? Do you think any of the increased online spend is likely to stick post-coronavirus?
8.
Do you think customers would be willing to purchase Valentino’s products during the crisis with a delayed delivery, similar to what has happened with the Kering brands? Would customers shop elsewhere at brands with faster delivery times?
9.
Are there any potential signs of early optimism in China’s luxury market? Could they inform our outlook on the shape of the recovery in Europe or the US?
10.
Could you estimate the international customer share for Valentino in Europe? How high is it?
11.
What’s your recovery outlook for the European luxury market and Valentino, given the large share of international customers?
12.
Could you describe the share split between classic and seasonal products for Valentino? How might that impact the pricing outlook for the business?
13.
How much pricing or discounting are you expecting from Valentino in 2020?
14.
How significant would you say the outlet channel is for Valentino?
15.
Could you estimate the share of outlet at Balenciaga or Gucci as a percentage of revenue?
16.
What’s your outlook for Valentino’s wholesale channel in the US? How significant an impact do you think Neiman Marcus’ Chapter 11 will have on Valentino?
17.
Are you expecting the decline in wholesale to cause fairly significant inventory issues for Valentino in 2020?
18.
Do you think brands will partake in inventory buybacks from the wholesale channel to preserve brand equity or pricing?
19.
Could you discuss Valentino’s cost-saving opportunities? How much scope is there to reduce costs across labour and rent?
20.
Could Valentino become an acquisition target, given the current crisis? Who might potentially be interested in purchasing the asset?
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