Net sales in the fourth quarter declined slightly to $112.4m compared to $112.9m in 2009. However, at comparable foreign currency exchange rates, net sales actually rose six percent.
US based operations posted a slight increase for the period, although Europe posted a slight decline to counterbalance this.
On the positive side, the fragrance firm posted an improvement in gross margin, up to 59 percent, compared to 56.1 percent.
Year results
Net sales for the year increased 12.4 percent to a record $460.4m compared to $409.5m the year before.
Russell Greenberg, executive vice president of Inter Parfums was keen to point out, “the economic rebound coupled with several major new product launches produced meaningful sales growth across all major prestige brands and in all geographic regions in 2010.”
For operations in the US, Greenberg explained that 2010 sales growth was spurred by the economic recovery as well as new product launches and greater international distribution of its specialty retail brands.
“The gross margin improvement for the fourth quarter and the year is primarily due to product mix within our European-based brand assortment, as sales of higher margin, larger sized products increased, while lower margin promotional sales, including gift with purchase items, decreased,” he continued.
Added value and further extensions expected
European-based operations were discussed by Jean Madar, CEO, who noted that the additions of Montblanc and Boucheron aided in expansion of the foundation upon which Inter Parfums expects to continue to grow its prestige business.
Looking ahead Madar stated: “our first new men’s scent under the Montblanc brand, will make its debut. Most importantly, we are planning a launch of a new Burberry fragrance family in 2011”, as well as several other brand extensions.
Madar also mentioned further brand extensions and product launches expected in the US in 2011.