One of the steepest drops was in the US, with sales falling 12 per cent – though sales in China were up 15 per cent. Pandora has recently launched its first nation-specific collection, Peach Blossom, targeting the Chinese market.
The company attributed the losses to lower traffic in physical stores and structural changes from its Programme NOW turnaround initiative.
Anders Boyer, chief financial officer Pandora, said: “As expected, the first quarter was characterised by continued weak like-for-like [figures], further burdened by our deliberate commercial reset.”
The strategy’s cost-cutting measures will include closing 50 Pandora ‘concept stores’ over the next year. Perhaps as a sign of Pandora’s woes, only eight concept stores were opened in the first quarter of 2019 compared to 39 during the same period last year.
The company will also sack a further 1,200 employees at its Thailand manufacturing facility, following the dismissal of 700 workers in February.
Pandora’s net growth has been falling steadily since 2014, and is now in the single digits.
New CEO Alexander Lacik, a self-described ‘turnaround architect’ who took the reins on 23 April, urged patience and said Pandora was focusing on “understanding where we went wrong with the consumer” and sharpening its product offering and merchandising.
He added, “The brand as well as the company has reached a point of maturity and it is not without some serious challenges.”
He also emphasised the company’s strong global supply chain and distribution network.
Programme NOW will involve store and e-commerce redesigns, reducing inventory and discounting, and increasing marketing – particularly using celebrities and social-media influencers – in the US, China, Italy and the UK.
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