FASHION retailer Salvatore Ferragamo has seen a drop in local sales of about 30 per cent this year and is not expecting much to change next year, chief executive Ferruccio Ferragamo says.
'This has been a difficult year,' he said.
'For 1999, I don't think we are going to grow in the Orient.
'Worldwide it will be another difficult year.' He said that local sales were down by about 30 per cent, in line with the experience of other luxury goods retailers.
Earlier this year, the Italian maker of luxury goods and shoes said poor Asian sales were likely to bring this year's revenue down 5 per cent, despite an increase in business in the United States. Asia accounts for about 30 per cent of all its business.
Consolidated revenue for the company grew from 516 billion lira (about HK$2.43 billion) in 1994 to 869 billion lira last year.
Ferragamo is the latest fashion retailer to admit to the scale of the retail downturn in the region. Local retail sales have fallen 20 per cent on last year and the luxury sector is facing a particularly difficult time.