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Dec 10, 2009
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Esprit cuts new store numbers, 2010 still tough

By
Reuters
Published
Dec 10, 2009

HONG KONG, Dec 10 (Reuters) - Clothing retailer Esprit Holdings (0330.HK) said consumers are still very conservative and it will cut the number of new stores planned for the current fiscal year to 50 from an earlier target of 60-80.

Esprit
Shooting of the new spring-summer 2010 campaign from Esprit

The fashion group, whose competitors include Hennes & Mauritz (HMb.ST) and GAP (GPS.N), has been hit by a weak wholesale environment in Europe and lacklustre growth in retail. "I believe 2010 will still be hard but I think by the second half of 2010 we might be back to normal or at least in the direction of normal but consumers are still very conservative," Chew Fook Aun, chief financial officer, told reporters on Thursday 10 December.

Chew said the majority of the new stores would be in Europe and Asia, with a smaller number in North America. also hopes to open more new stores in China.

The world's number 6 fashion retailer by market value also said it was considering buying a 51-percent stake in its China joint venture from partner China Resources Enterprise (0291.HK).

"We are in dialogue with China Resources. I hope it can come back to the family," Chairman Heinz Krogner-Kornalik said.

Buying back the stake would "open a new dimension for Esprit business" as the company's growth in Asia is currently limited to a few countries in the region, he added.

Shares of Esprit ended up 0.5 percent at HK$52.5 on Thursday 10 December, beating a 0.2 percent fall on the benchmark Hang Seng Index .HSI.

(Reporting by Fion Li; Editing by David Cowell)

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((If you have a query or comment on this story, send an email to [email protected])) Keywords: ESPRIT/STORES

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