Samsonite International S.A., the world's largest travel goods company, has announced the results of its activities for 2017.

The group's net sales for the year ended December 31, 2017 amounted to a record US$ 3,490.9 million, reflecting an increase of 23.3% year-on-year.

The Group achieved significant growth in the direct sales segment, while net sales increased to 57.4% compared to the same period last year. This increase reflects the group's strategy of investing in the expansion of direct sales, especially direct electronic sales. Notably, these figures included the acquisition of eBags in May 2017. As a result, the group's net sales in the direct electronic sales segment increased by 138.0% year-on-year.

In 2017, the group spent US$ 206 million on market research, which is $ 62.2 million or 43.3% more than in 2016, in order to further increase the recognition of the group's brands and further sales growth on a global scale. As a percentage of net sales, marketing research expenditures increased in 2017 to 5.9% compared to 5.1% in 2016.

Chief Executive Officer Mr. Ramesh Teinwala commented: "Our results in 2017 were very encouraging. The group's net revenue reached a record US$ 3,490.9 million, while, according to dollar statements, shareholders' profit increased by 30.7% to US$ 334.3 million for the year. While we continued to benefit from the steady growth in the number of tourist trips worldwide, our strong results were also driven by continued investment in our brands, especially in the form of increased marketing support, as well as the expansion of direct online sales, as well as sales through our retail stores. In the future, we will continue to implement our multi-brand and multi-channel strategy, while at the same time using our decentralized management structure and investments in marketing research in order to capitalize on the many exciting opportunities for the group.

Photo: Samsonite