The Benetton Group’s Board of Directors has approved the three-year program to refocus business. This project is designed to provide
maximum market competitiveness for the group brands through comprehensive innovation in the corporate structure, with a refocusing of the areas of the company’s activities. It also aims to complete the process to rethink, refocus and relaunch that began in 2012 – a process that is starting to give its first results, including improved cash generation and disposal of a limited number of properties no longer in line with the positioning of the group brands.
The three-year program approved by the Board entails in particular the organization of the Benetton Group into three distinct realities: one with a clear focus on the brands, a manufacturing component and a real estate management component. All the three realities will be directly controlled by Edizione S.r.l.. It is the evolution of a model and structure already rewarded by financial markets even at the time of the group’s first listing.
Following this new organization, the Benetton Group brands, among the most renowned and well loved in the world, will be able to respond with increased effectiveness to market scenarios. United Colors of Benetton and Sisley are, in fact, particularly strong brands with huge market share.
In this context, the refocusing strategy for the reality dedicated to the brands will be chiefly represented by an increasingly marked separation of the two main Benetton Group brands in the diverse competitive arenas of the market, focus on investment in directly controlled key and flagship stores, further development of new concepts for retail outlets, a strong geographic focus to target key countries, and by a progressive development of the potential of accessories and licences, such as the agreement recently announced with Puig for fragrances.
The manufacturing component will be mainly dedicated to serving the group’s brands through the first rate production platforms that already exist in Serbia, Tunisia and Italy.
The real estate component will be better able to develop and obtain a return on locations that are either no longer strategically viable or whose features and spaces no longer comply with the sales format of Benetton Group brands present on the market.
The main objectives of the program, at the end of the three years, are to substantially maintain constant turnover, offset the exit from no longer strategic countries with like-for-like sales growth, and to improve profitability.
“From the outset, we wanted to lay out a strategy for rethinking our business, based on discontinuity and renewal without, of course, forgetting our rich history. There are early signs, yet we are still only at the beginning of a journey in a market that remains uncertain. Today, our efforts are focused on recovering profitability by simplifying the business model and focusing on our brands.”
– Mr. Alessandro Benetton, Chairman of the Benetton Group