Brioni Profits Soar by 43 Percent in 2006, to EUR 35.5M Euros.

PENNE (ABRUZZO), Italy -- Brioni has unveiled its first-ever published annual accounts, showing the Italian luxury menswear maker is enjoying strong profits.

Brioni, which was recently rated the most prestigious luxury men's fashion brand in the 2007 Luxury Brand Index survey from the independent New-York based Luxury Institute, said its earnings before interest, taxes and depreciation (EBITDA) rose by 43.1 percent to 35.5m euros in the year ending on December 31, 2006. The company, based in the Abruzzo town of Penne in Italy, also disclosed a 17.6% rise in revenues for 2006, to EU192.8m for 2006.

The announcement marked the first time in its 62-year-old history that Brioni has made public its fully consolidated accounts, audited and certified by PriceWaterhouseCoopers.

"We are very satisfied with the company's steady growth," said Andrea Perrone, the co-CEO who in July 2006 succeeded Umberto Angeloni at the helm of business and corporate strategy. He noted that at the EBIT level of net profits Brioni saw its 2006 results more than double to 24.9m euros (the increase was actually 157 percent year- on-year.)

Mr. Perrone said he expected 2007 to be "another year of significant growth" as he and his management team plough ahead with an ambitious program of international expansion. Between 2006 and 2007 this expansion includes the opening of both Brioni-owned retail boutiques and franchise stores in St. Petersburg (Russia), Dubai (UAE), Mumbai (India), Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), Almaty (Kazakhstan), Baku (Azerbaijan), a fifth store in Seoul (South Korea), Hong Kong (China), and Bal Harbour, Florida. In 2008 Brioni is set to also open in Macao and Jakarta (Indonesia).

The company plans significant further international expansion, especially in Asia and the Middle East over the next 24 months, and is forecasting "several years of steady progress for our brand, which remains a luxury brand that is attracting more young affluent clients in North America and more of the new global elite in emerging markets."

Mr. Perrone added that financial results, together with the recent buyout by other family members of a 17 percent equity stake held by former Brioni manager Umberto Angeloni and his wife, showed that "we remain confident in our future as an independent luxury brand, and that we are prepared to bet on that future."

Commenting on recent press speculation that Brioni is considering opening its capital to outside investors, Mr. Perrone stated: "While we have received more than 100 approaches from potential buyers, including private equity firms, I wish to be very clear that Brioni is not for sale, we are not looking for outside shareholders, and the intention of our family members is to remain an independent and family-owned luxury brand."