Barbara Bui specializes in the design and marketing of luxury off-the-peg clothing for women, accessories (shoes and bags) and fragrances. Net sales (not including divisions sold) break down by type of boutique as follows:
- company-owned boutiques (64.8%);
- multi-brand boutiques (35.2%).
Products are manufactured by sub-contractors.
Geographically, net sales (not including divisions sold) are divided as follows: France (49.4%), Europe (15.6%), Eastern countries (17.2%), North America (10.2%), Africa and Middle East (5%), Asia/Pacific (2.5%) and other (0.1%).
Barbara Bui SA operates through its subsidiaries, including BBK Holding, Barbara Bui Srl and Alain Tondowski Sarl.
Numbers
Market Cap 20.3M EUR
Sales 29.3M EUR (decrease from 37M in 2008 and only slight increase from 2001 from 21M, that's why I call it an opportunity)
Revenue Per Share 43EUR
Gross Profit 17M EUR (asset sales)
EBITDA 1M EUR (they lost money only 2 times in the last decade, company is very good balance sheet managed)
Cash 4.3M EUR
LT Debt 2.7M EUR
Employees 132
Assets 21M EUR
Liabilities 11M EUR
Shares Outstanding 674,650 (no increase from 2001)
Major Shareholders are insiders Barbara Bui 19.4%
William Halimi 39.8%
Elie Halimi 6%
Peter Copers 5%
Kohlhase & Stöwer Asset Management GmbH 0.19%
Neuflize Vie SA 0.01%
Resume: This is a fashion company that is profitable so they will not go the way of Nicowa Modevertrieb GmbH & CO KG which went bankrupt then bought by vulture capital fund and it's future is unknown, Bui have time to create nice collections and impress women from all over the world just like Marc Cain or Luisa Cerano do, but if recession will accelerate one day they might arrive at Nicowa juncture too, that's why my advise to them: look for joining forces with another fashion brand your size or bigger, wait to get acquisition offers but at lower price or stay alone and witness the power of bear market, at times when even very big fashion industries like Diesel, Fashion Box Industries, Nolita, Paul&Shark, Armani, Bogner, Sportalm, Cesar,Kindy, Lafuma...and many others offer huge discounts to department stores and kill margins, to stay alone in the storm is the worst thing a good brand can do, that's why I see management will think about it and do something before somebody else will do it better, then it will be too late. The Bui fashion is beautiful, let it be even more beautiful in the future, let it become a bigger, stronger, more international company in the next decade.
