HAMBURG (dpa-AFX) - Fashion jewelry retailer Bijou Brigitte posted significantly higher sales but lower earnings in the first half of 2023. Sales climbed more than 13 percent to 148.8 million euros, Bijou Brigitte modische Accessoires AG announced in Hamburg on Thursday. Profits, meanwhile, shrank to 9.2 (2022: 11.7) million euros, according to preliminary figures. The bottom line left 6.2 million euros after taxes, about a quarter less than in the first half of 2022. "This earnings development of the Bijou Brigitte Group in the first half of 2023 is mainly due to inflation-related cost increases and one-time special effects that occurred in the previous year after the return from the pandemic," the statement said.

In the previous year, the company had been able to shake off the deep Corona pitfall and return to the level seen before the outbreak of the pandemic. The outlook for the current year, in which further growth is expected, was correspondingly positive.

For 2023, the company had forecast consolidated sales of between 320 and 340 million euros and a pre-tax profit of between 38 and 54 million euros./kf/DP/jha