Family Business Roundup: Prada, DKSH, UOB, Aboitiz, Campari post gains, profits down at Molson Coors

It’s been a week of ups and downs for family businesses as Singapore’s United Overseas Bank and the Philippines’ Aboitiz Equity Ventures registered half-yearly double-digit profit growth, while Prada, DKSH and Campari posted healthy revenue gains for the same period on the back of their Asian businesses. Molson Coors and Douglas Holdings, however, reported significant falls in net income.

Total income at UOB, south-east Asia’s third biggest lender, increased by 13.2%, to S$3.24 billion (€2.1 billion) in the first half of the year from S$2.86 billion in the same period in 2011. UOB, whose chairman and second-generation family member Wee Cho Yaw announced his retirement this week, reported a half-yearly net income of S$1.4 billion, up 12.3% on last year.

Aboitiz Equity Ventures, the holding company of the Aboitiz family, reported a 16% rise in net income to PHP11.8 billion (€228 million) for the six months to June 30, compared to last year. The company credited the increase to the uptake in its power generation business, which accounted for PHP9.4 billion, or 79%, of the profit growth, it said in a statement on 6 August.

Meanwhile, Swiss market expansion services provider DKSH, which focuses on Asia, said on 8 August that its net sales increased by 16%, to CHF4.2 billion (€3.5 billion), its best half year so far.

In Italy, fashion house Prada, run by designer Miuccia Prada and husband Patrizio Bertelli, saw its half-yearly revenues rise to €1.55 billion, a 36.5% increase on the same period in 2011. The company, which listed in Hong Kong last year, said the growth was down to strong Asian sales of its Prada and Miu Miu brands.

Another Italian company – drinks-maker Campari – also posted a 5% increase in revenues for the first half of 2012, to €618.3 million, thanks to positive momentum in Asia–Pacific and North America. The company is controlled by the Garavoglia family.

Second-quarter 2012 revenues at Italian eyewear group Luxottica were up 15.2% to €1.88 billion, from €1.63 billion in 2011, the company recently said.

Manufacturer Fiat Industrial, the truck and equipment holding group of the Agnelli family, likewise reported a 5.4% increase in revenues for the second quarter of 2012, to €6.62 billion from €6.28 billion during the same period last year.

The outlook for Swiss luxury group Richemont is also bright. It is forecasting operating and net profits between 20% to 40% for the first six months of 2012 on the back of a 24% rise in sales for the four months ending July 2012. Richemont is controlled by the Rupert family.

Things were not as rosy at Molson Coors, controlled by the Molson and Coors families, as the brewer’s net income from continuing operations fell 53.5% in the second quarter of 2012, down to $104.3 million (€84.48 million) from $224.3 million in the first half of 2011.

This was due to higher “financing and acquisition costs” and currency fluctuations, the North American company said on 7 August. Revenues, however, rose by 7% to $999.4 million, on the back of a 6.4% increase in sales volume, including those from the acquisition of European brewer StarBev.

Net income was also down at Douglas Holding, controlled by the Kreke family, falling 30.3% to €167.9 million for the nine months to June 30, compared to the same period last year. The German perfume and cosmetics retailer blamed restructuring costs. Revenues were up 1.8% to €2.66 billion.