Hugo Boss cuts prices to try to revive weak China sales

Thomson ReutersThe logo of German fashion house Hugo Boss is seen on a clothing label at their outlet store in Mezingen near Stuttgart

BERLIN (Reuters) – German fashion house Hugo Boss ​ is bringing prices in Asia down closer to levels in Europe and the Americas after saying its sales in China and the United States so far this year have been weaker than it expected.

Hugo Boss shares tumbled 15.2 percent by 1618 GMT (11:18 a.m. EST), compared to a 1.3 percent weaker German mid-cap index

Hugo Boss, which had already warned last month it was suffering from weak markets in China and the United States, said it now expects 2016 sales to rise at a low single-digit percentage rate on a currency adjusted basis.

It expects adjusted operating profit to fall at a low double-digit percentage rate, and it dropped a target to improve its adjusted operating margin to 25 percent this year.

It added it will limit the distribution of its core Boss brand in the U.S. wholesale business to try to avoid the impact of a market dominated by big discounts.

(Reporting by Emma Thomasson; Editing by Maria Sheahan)

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