Prada Rides Luxury Boom While Mass Retailers Struggle as Chinese Demand Flags

Prada Rides Luxury Boom While Mass Retailers Struggle as Chinese Demand Flags

Prada Rides Luxury Boom While Mass Retailers Struggle as Chinese Demand Flags · Bloomberg
Trade BILI on Coinbase

(Bloomberg) -- Prada SpA should confirm the resilience of demand for luxury brands in Asia when it reports earnings, shrugging off lukewarm consumer sentiment in China.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Japan has been among the world’s strongest luxury markets as a weaker yen attracted tourists looking for bargains and domestic demand remained solid. Strong earnings at LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE, Richemont and Hermes International SCA were all underpinned by growth in Japan. Luxury sales across Asia also held up, defying the sector-wide cyclical downturn as Chinese shoppers hold back and growth slows in other key markets.

While affluent Asians ramped up spending, the broader population tightened purse strings, particularly in China. Online retailer JD.com Inc. may post its slowest annual revenue growth since at least 2015, Bloomberg’s estimates showed. Advertising revenue growth at Chinese online video platform Bilibili Inc. should also decelerate this year due to macroeconomic headwinds, said Alex Poon, an analyst at Morgan Stanley.

JD.com responded to Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.’s price cuts in cloud computing services with its own sharp reductions, an aggressive round of competition that will erode profits at China’s leading technology companies.

Highlights to look out for:

Wednesday: JD.com’s (JD US) slowing growth comes as economic headwinds in China, its biggest market, dent consumer sentiment. The company has said it’s considering making a bid for UK electronics retailer Currys Plc. A deal could bring some synergies as JD.com is also a major player in consumer electronics retail, analysts including HSBC’s Charlene Liu said.

  • SJM Holdings’ (880 HK) fourth-quarter revenue is estimated to surge more than fourfold. The casino operator will likely see annual Ebitda turn positive for the first time in four years as its Grand Lisboa Palace property in Macau attracts more traffic. Its gross gaming revenue for the quarter should outpace Macau’s casino industry on a sequential basis with Grand Lisboa Palace continuing to ramp up operations, said Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Angela Hanlee.

Thursday: Prada’s (1913 HK) annual earnings jumped, consensus shows, driven by growth in the Asia-Pacific region, particularly Japan, while Americas revenue probably slid. The main Prada brand remained steady, while Miu Miu likely grew the fastest. Analysts at Morningstar expect the company’s growth over the next decade to be driven by its brand strength, while rising global incomes buoy the luxury industry. Prada was ranked top of the Lyst Index of luxury’s hottest brands for the fourth quarter and was in the top four for the year, according to BI.