Sales for children’s and maternity wear specialist Orchestra down in first quarter

On Monday, French children's and maternity wear specialist Orchestra-Prémaman reported a revenue of €140.4 million for the first quarter of its non-standard 2018-19 financial year, equivalent to an 8.9% decrease. The result was caused by adverse weather conditions and the group’s debt restructuring efforts.

Orchestra stated in a press release that business was hit by “the late start of the summer season” due to adverse weather conditions, affecting the whole textile and apparel sector early on in the quarter.

“In addition to this exogenous factor, the group’s measures to restructure its bank and bond debt situation caused a temporary shortfall in product availability in the childcare category,” added the group, without providing any further details. At the end of June, Orchestra had reached an agreement with creditors to reschedule its debt.

Specifically, domestic sales in France in the first quarter lost 8.9%, while Benelux was down 12% and international sales (excepting Benelux) decreased by 5.8%.

The group did not indicate any target for its financial year as a whole, but confirmed “its strategy of pursuing profitability improvements and a reduction in stock levels.”