Italian luxury brand Prada still plans to become a dual-listed company, but won’t commit to a listing date until it’s “six months away,” Chief Financial Officer Andrea Bonini told CNBC’s Charlotte Reid in an exclusive interview.
Speculation about a possible dual listing with the group, which is currently listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange, has been going on since 2022, when Prada’s Paolo Zanoni told Bloomberg that it was an option but not a priority.
Bonini said such a move “will be the right thing to do at some point.”
“We continue to believe this is the right thing to do,” he added. “We’re not going to commit to a schedule until it’s six months out.”
Luxury stocks generally slumped as the coronavirus pandemic boom and China’s traction peaked. Bonini said he sees the sector as “stabilizing”, meaning a recovery in consumption is expected.
He added: “The US is in a good position. It’s very difficult to find holes in the US performance overall.” However, smooth sailing does not necessarily continue. That’s because “you always have to be a little careful when there’s an element of a bubble fueling the excitement,” he said.
The finance chief said the Prada Group had achieved 19 quarters of uninterrupted growth, driven by the “excellent performance of its youth subsidiary Miu Miu over many years”.
Earlier this year, Prada also acquired Versace from Capri Holdings for $1.375 billion. Bonini suggested there will be more consolidation in the luxury goods industry.
Elsewhere, there will be a change in leadership at the company, with Miuccia Prada’s son Lorenzo Bertelli taking over from current group CEO Andrea Guerra, although no timetable has been set for a full transition of power.
“We’re in a very fortunate situation where the founder and the second generation are involved in the company at the same time,” Bonini said, noting that Prada’s long history of bringing in external leadership puts the company in a “great position.”
“First of all, it gives us stability. It gives us consistency…If you look at what’s happened in the creative field over the past year, I think having this stability and consistency is a huge advantage and it brings a strong sense of integrity to the brand as well,” Bonini added.
Prada stock has fallen 21.7% since the beginning of the year.
