Prada profits advance in fine style with new stores

Prada today showed that luxury spending is back in vogue as the Italian fashion house said it had beaten its own expectations for profits for the year to February.

The group, which owns Prada, Miu Miu and Church's shoes, saw sales at its shops including those in the West End and Knightsbridge rise 14% during the past year.

Shrugging off the recession, Prada added that operating profit for the past 12 months would be higher than it had budgeted for at the start of last year, and would beat takings from the 2008 financial year, when it posted a 99 million (£86.8 million) net profit.

The firm, which is run by designer Miuccia Prada and her husband chief executive Patrizio Bertelli, began preparing for growth as the world emerged from the recession, investing more than 120 million last year in a development plan. It opened scores of new stores, mainly in Europe and Asia.

That was part of a bid to cash in on huge demand for expensive branded clothes and accessories from shoppers in China, which has boosted firms from across the luxury goods sector.

Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy, the world's biggest luxury group, last week announced fourth-quarter sales growth and "record" takings for December.

It also predicted growth at the start of this year. In the previous three quarters, sales figures had been flat.

Rival luxury fashion group Hermes also reported strong fourth-quarter sales, beating analyst forecasts and lifting its own profit expectations for the year.