Prada profits treble as Asians buy Italian

Italian luxury fashion house PRADA unveiled their spring summer 2011 campaign earlier this week, alongside glowing news that the company’s nine month net profit had trebled.

The campaign for next spring, awash with vibrant colour-blocking and bold, accentuated stripes, heralds a new era for luxury companies, many of which are experiencing their first sales increases since the downturn in 2007.

Experts are accounting for the dramatic rise in net profit of the family run company to 156 million Euros as a direct result of Asian shoppers flooding the luxury market, fuelled by a burgeoning Chinese economy.

But while Prada chief Patrizio Bertelli states that these nine-month results “let us confidently look at” the group’s future development, there is growing anxiety that this rebound could be short lived.

The European sales figures could suggest less about the buying patterns of locals than evidence of the Asian markets taking advantage of the weak euro.

In spite of these concerns, Prada, which has to float several times in the past decade, has said it is considering a listing in 2011, with Hong Kong among the market options.

The move would help free Prada from the burden of a debt estimated at around 1 billion euros, partly a result of an acquisition spree in the 1990s.