German sandal maker Birkenstock reports record Q1 revenue

DPA
·1 min read
A view of the Birkenstock logo on a sandal. Sebastian Gollnow/dpa
A view of the Birkenstock logo on a sandal. Sebastian Gollnow/dpa

German sandal maker Birkenstock reported record revenue of €303 million ($327.4 million) for the first quarter of fiscal 2024 which ended on December 31, 2023, an increase of 22%.

The sandal maker headquartered in Linz am Rhein recorded a net loss of €7 million, improved from €9 million in the same time frame a year earlier.

The company attributes its current losses to the cost of expanding its plant in the north-east German town of Pasewalk.

"Our strategic investments into future growth are having a planned, temporary impact on our profitability," Oliver Reichert, CEO of Birkenstock Group and a member of the board of directors explained.

The expansion is going to plan, Birkenstock said in a statement.

Birkenstock went public in New York at the beginning of October. The stock started below the issue price of $46 and took seven weeks to reach it again.

In premarket trading on Thursday, the price temporarily rose by 0.5% to $51.50 following the quarterly report.

Even after the IPO, Birkenstock is controlled by the main shareholder L Catterton, who is linked to the luxury group LVMH and its billionaire boss Bernard Arnault.