Versace swings to 2006 profit despite sales drop

By Staff
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Google Oneindia News

MILAN, Mar 29 (Reuters) Italian design house Versace - whose 20-year-old half-owner is battling anorexia - turned in a slimmer profit of 19.1 million euros (.48 million) in 2006 despite a drop in sales, it said on Thursday.

The fashion house, which dressed British actress Elizabeth Hurley when she married Indian businessman Arun Nayar this month, said in a statement that sales in 2006 slipped to 288 million euros from 306 million as it ended some licensing deals.

That still beat its expectations of 276 million euros.

Versace's collections are designed by Donatella Versace, the sister of the brand's flamboyant founder Gianni, who was murdered in 1997 outside his Miami Beach mansion by serial killer Andrew Cunanan.

It was reported earlier this week that Allegra Beck Versace, a student at Brown University in Rhode Island who inherited 50 percent of the her uncle's company, was suffering from anorexia.

The design house had a profit of 30 million euros in 2005 due entirely to one-off items, without which it had an operating loss of 5.5 million euros.

Versace said accessories -- which have fat profit margins -- had exceeded its target for 30 percent of total sales.

Donatella's latest womenswear collection, shown in Milan in February, featured trademark glitz and silver, which sparkled on the soles of high-heeled shoes or for details on a white fur and leather coat.

REUTERS PV BD1808

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