FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX Broker) - Business figures for the first quarter only briefly boosted Hugo Boss on Thursday in a subdued market environment. After an initial jump of almost four percent, the share price fell due to disappointing statements on business in China. Most recently, the price losses widened to around nine percent. As a result, the shares were by far the worst performers in the MDax index of mid-cap stocks, which hardly changed.

Hugo Boss shares reached the level of November 2022. The 21-day line, which is a popular short-term chart indicator, was clearly undercut.

The year 2024 has been very bad for the fashion retailer's shares so far, as the setback of almost 32% shows. The fact that the fashion retailer's business performed better than expected at the beginning of the year despite sluggish customer behavior did not change anything. Thanks to lower marketing costs, profits were slightly higher than expected, wrote JPMorgan expert Chiara Battistini in an initial commentary.

The figures did not turn out to be the driver that many experts had hoped would give the shares a boost. The mood was clearly dampened by statements made by the management in the conference call on the results. Starting from a challenging basis in the previous year, business in China declined in the high single-digit percentage range in the first quarter. The French fashion group and Gucci owner Kering had also recently struggled with the reluctance of wealthy buyers in China.

The shares were only briefly helped in the morning by the fact that Baader Bank included them on its list of "top picks" following the better-than-expected quarterly figures. Analyst Volker Bosse emphasized the low valuation level and stabilizing economic indicators. He referred to the current consumer sentiment and the Ifo index./tih/la/stk