During Tuesday’s earnings call, Grieder addressed the working relationship with Frasers. “We have regular and constructive dialog with Frasers Group, and we really value them as a significant long-term shareholder,” he told analysts and investors. “As with all shareholders, our engagement is guided by the objective of supporting the long-term success of Hugo Boss, and that is their intention also. So it’s not a short-term investment for them.” Frasers Group CEO Michael Murray assumed the Hugo Boss chair position in September, after Stephan Sturm stepped down.
On the struggles to reach long-term success, Grieder acknowledged a difficult macroeconomic and geopolitical environment, as well as weak consumer demand. While he remained positive about the future of Hugo Boss in its “new constellation” — it will become a subsidiary of Frasers Group — he emphasized the importance of honed distribution, profitability, and cost discipline.
“Our strategic direction on the Claim 5 touchdown [strategy] remains unchanged, and I firmly believe that we are doing the right things. Nevertheless, there is still work ahead of us, and benefits of the related initiatives will take time to materialize,” said Grieder. “But let me stress that we are convinced they will strengthen our business in the long term.”
Hugo Boss’s division into its two sub-labels was formally introduced in early 2022 as part of a seismic rebrand and marketing overhaul. For this quarter, Boss sales fell 3% to €813 million, while Hugo sales fell 17% to €133 million. The company continues to invest in marketing to build brand equity across both businesses, noting the new Boss by Beckham capsule, which provided an uptick in consumer engagement.
Sales across the company’s retail segments — comprising bricks-and-mortar, the brand website, and online concessions — were down 8% to €516 million, while wholesale and licenses both fell 2% to €406 million and €24 million, respectively.
Across regions, numbers were down. Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) declined the most, down 7%, a tumble symptomatic of soft demand in the UK and France, despite some resilience in Germany. The conflict in the Middle East also dragged on store traffic, eating into sales performance. The Americas fell 3%, with strongest performance in the US, offset by light decline in Latin America. Grieder explained that the US, nonetheless, had “very good results” for both brands, especially in department stores. The Asia-Pacific region was down 2%, impacted by sales slowdown in China, Southeast Asia and the Pacific cluster.
The new guidance for 2026 forecasted a high-single-digit decline, attributed to weakened demand and ongoing uncertainty. As such, Hugo Boss’s predicted EBIT now sits between €250-300 million for the full year, down from the initial estimate of €300-350 million.
“My focus is on the long term rather than the next quarter, and I see my role as setting the right financial and operational course for Hugo Boss,” said CFO and COO Ivica Maric, who is newly appointed but has been with the company since 2005. “I will use the coming period to review our strategic KPIs as well as the way we manage our balance sheet and cash flows. This is a continuous process aimed at keeping our financial framework aligned with the current market environment and our strategic priorities under Claim 5 Touchdown.”