ECCO celebrates another record year

The company’s footwear sales grew in the retail, e-commerce and wholesale sectors.

Danish footwear producer ECCO has reported record sales and profits for the sixth consecutive year. Sales reached £1 billion ($1.5 billion), an increase of 7 per cent, and profit before tax was £146.4 million ($208.4 million). According to ECCO chief executive, Dieter Kasprzak, last year was characterised by Ecco successfully launching innovative collections and investing in the future. Mr Kasprzak stated that the announced results were achieved by the successful execution of organisational strategies, which he saw as a prerequisite for continuous profit improvement in challenging markets worldwide.

ECCO reportedly countered declining sales in Europe by opening stores in other locations and by launching more e-commerce sites. The company and its partners opened 174 shops and closed 79 during 2015, resulting in a net of 95 openings.

"With the exception of Russia and Ukraine, we generated sales growth in all three channels – retail, e-commerce and wholesale, and in all international regions," said ECCO’s chief financial officer, Steen Borgholm, adding: "this is a good achievement in a difficult market environment."

ECCO products are now sold in 87 countries from more than 3,300 standalone shops and in-store outlets, and at more than 14,000 sales points. Founded in 1963 by Karl Toosbuy, the company is still family-owned and employs more than 19,000 people worldwide.

Publishing Data

This article was originally published on page 3 of the May 2016 issue of SATRA Bulletin.

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