Cettire stung as US shoppers hold fire on luxury clothing in Trump tariff mire

West Australian

23-04-2025

High-end fashion retailer Cettire has fallen into negative earnings and reported a slowdown in customer purchases from the US — its biggest market — in the weeks since Donald Trump unleashed his tariff agenda.
Shares in the Melbourne-based business plunged more than 19 per cent on Wednesday after recording an earnings before interest, tax depreciation and amortisation loss of $4.7 million.
About half of that was due to foreign exchange losses triggered by a rising euro and a weaker US dollar over the past three months.
Sales revenue nudged upwards by just one per cent to $192.5m on the same time last year in what continues a period of weak global demand for luxury clothing, the retailer said.
Cettire sells products from more than 2500 luxury brands — including Gucci, Christian Dior, Givenchy and Burberry — but doesn't keep the inventory on-hand, instead sourcing products from third-party suppliers.
'The operating environment within the global personal luxury goods market since Cettire's H1 FY25 results has remained volatile, with softening underlying demand evident across all geographies,' chief executive Dean Mintz said.
He said the sector on the whole had been revving up promotions to stir demand among shoppers, and in turn Cettire had upped its marketing spend.
But The US President's tariffs have already started to cause problems in the US.
The business noted it had already seen a 'softening in US demand. . . with volatility in daily sales' since the tariffs were announced in early April.
Cettire will also need to contend with tariffs on the sale of China-manufactured goods into the US, though the company said this would only impact about 3.8 per cent of its sales.
Customers buying from Cettire spent about $829 per order on average, a fraction less than the average spend recorded this time last year of $832.
Cettire said it had started cost-saving initiatives throughout the business that would save about $5m a year.