Moncler Group | Annual Report 2024 Board of Directors’ Report 48 Moncler Group | Annual Report 2024 Board of Directors’ Report 49

Brand protection

The Moncler Group dedicates signif icant ef fort and considerable

resources to safeguarding the value, uniqueness and authenticity

of its products and protecting its intellectual and industrial

property (IP) rights relating to both Group brands, an essential

foundation for protecting its clients.

The internal department specialising in IP and Brand

Protection focuses, f irst of all, on administrative protection:

protecting Group brands in current and potential countries

and product categories of commercial interest, including product

forms and characteristics and product and process inventions,

in addition to protecting copyrighted works.

An important achievement was reached in 2024 within

the administrative activities, as the trademark MONCLER

was recognised as well-known mark by the EUIPO (European

Of f ice for Intellectual Property) following the activities carried

out by the department in the protection of the Group’s IP assets.

Enforcement of IP rights and the f ight against

counterfeiting involve a wide range of activities, such as training

and coordinating customs authorities, f iling the relevant

applications in the various countries, monitoring and taking

investigative action in the physical and online market,

removing illegal content from the Web, organising raids and

seizures with the local authorities in many countries and,

f inally, taking civil, criminal and administrative actions.

In 2024 the Group continued to hold a signif icant number

of training sessions for Italian and foreign Customs of f icers

and enforcement authorities. In particular, during the year,

36 training sessions were held for the Moncler brand and

23 training sessions were held for the Stone Island brand.

In 2024 constant ef forts to combat counterfeiting led,

at the global level, to more than 2,800 cases of seizure for

the Moncler brand and more than 1,300 cases for the

Stone Island brand, removing from the market approximately

150,000 and 70,000 f inished products, respectively, as well as

177,000 and almost 30,000 counterfeit branded items respectively,

such as logos and labels intended for the production of garments

and accessories in infringement of the Groups IP rights

Increasing attention is paid to the digital channel monitored

on a daily basis to undertake enforcement activities on search

engines marketplaces websites and social networks every day

In the case of Stone Island during 2024 more than 38000

online auction listings of counterfeit products were removed

more than 130 sites in violation were closed more than

15000 pages linked to counterfeit products were delisted and

nearly 99000 posts accounts and sponsored advertisements

on major social networks were removed In the case of Moncler

2024 saw a reduction of more than 92000 auction listings

of counterfeit products the blocking of nearly 300 sites the

removal from major search engines of almost 32000 links

to sites of fering nonoriginal products for sale and the removal

of around 203,000 posts, ads and accounts promoting fake

Moncler products through social networks.

To strengthen its strategy of f ighting online counterfeiting,

both brands are continuing their plans to bring civil lawsuits

for counterfeiting in the United States against sellers who

promote the international sale of counterfeit products on digital

platforms, resulting in a strong deterrent for counterfeiters.

To increase protection of its end clients, in 2021 Moncler

began to enhance its authenticity-traceability system, now

characterised by a unique alphanumeric code and an NFC

(Near Field Communication) tag, allowing the end consumer

to immediately receive feedback on the nature of the garment

purchased by scanning the NFC with a smartphone

or tablet and keeping the verif ication mode active on the

code.moncler.com website, managed directly by Moncler.

Where necessary, Moncler also compiles expert reports for

defrauded customers who wish to recover sums paid in the

unwitting purchase of a counterfeit garment from the relevant

electronic payment services companies. Similarly, since

Spring–Summer 2014 Stone Island has been using the Certilogo

®

technology and experience to provide clients

with the opportunity to verify the authenticity of the products.

Starting in Autumn–Winter 2020–2021, this technology

was also extended to Stone Island Junior garments, allowing

— for all garments — the generation of an “anti-counterfeiting

report" that can be used with payment institutions to obtain

credit for the purchase of an unauthentic garment.

Conf irming the Group’s commitment to applying brand

protection procedures, aimed at regulating the methods

for verifying design and creative content, in 2024 Cultural

Assessment and Risk Mitigation areas were strengthened,

particularly for departments involved in generating

creative

content at Stone Island, where these policies were

of f icially disseminated.

Moncler and the f inancial markets

2024 proved to be another year def ined by macroeconomic

challenges and heightened geopolitical tensions. The conf lict

between Russia and Ukraine remained unresolved and continued

to disrupt energy markets and global supply chains,

and

the conf lict between Israel and Palestine, marked by periodic

escalations throughout the year, further destabilized the

Middle East and weighed on global investor sentiment.

Amidst ongoing challenges, f inancial markets in 2024

displayed remarkable resilience. After a prolonged period

of monetary policy tightening, the moderation of inf lation in key

developed markets led central banks to implement widespread

interest rate cuts, marking the most signif icant easing ef fort since

the 2009 f inancial crisis.

Major equity indices posted strong performances (S&P Global

Index, BMI: +13%), with the U.S. standing out due to robust GDP

growth, post-election deregulation prospects, and the continued

success of AI stocks, driving the S&P 500 to a +23% gain.

In contrast, European equity markets lagged, weighed down

by a weakening manufacturing sector, restrictive regulations,

political instability in France and Germany, and limited exposure

to AI stocks (EuroSTOXX50: +8%; FTSE MIB: +13%).

In Asia, the Chinese economy remained subdued as the

country faced several macroeconomic challenges, including falling

property prices, which in turn weakened consumer conf idence.

However, various policy announcements from September helped

boost investor conf idence, with expectations that 2025 would

bring signif icant stimulus to revive the economy. As a result,

Chinese equities rallied in the second half of the year (Shanghai

Stock Exchange Index: +13%; Hang Seng Index: +18%). Meanwhile,

continued optimism about the end of def lation, coupled with

a weak yen and ongoing corporate reforms, drove strong

performance in Japanese equities, making Japan the second-best

performing major equity market (NIKKEI 225: +19%).

Focusing specif ically on the luxury sector, after a period

of extraordinary performance post-Covid, 2024 proved

to be a more challenging year, with trends deteriorating across

the board. The sector was particularly impacted by weaker

demand among Chinese consumers, driven by lower consumer

conf idence, as well as more subdued trends across other

regions. Only very few luxury brands remained largely immune

to the broader macroeconomic headwinds. Investors began

to question the sector's fundamentals, speculating that the weaker

performance might be the result of temporary “fatigue” caused

by limited innovation and creativity, alongside increased price

sensitivity following years of meaningful price hikes.

However, towards the end of the year, signs of recovery emerged,

especially among American consumers following the U.S. elections.

This sparked renewed investor optimism, with expectations that

the U.S. market could serve as a key driver of growth for the luxury

sector heading into 2025.

The sector ultimately ended the year down 9%,

underperforming the MSCI Europe (+2%) and FTSE MIB (+13%).

Moncler, while posting a negative stock performance, still

outperformed most of its peers, experiencing the smallest share

price decline, after the positive performances of Prada, Hermès,

Richemont, and Cucinelli.

SHARE PERFORMANCE 1 year (2024)2 years (2024–2023)5 years (2024–2020)

Prada 34.7%36.4%86.8%

Hermès 21.0%60.7%248.5%

Richemont 19.1%15.0% 81.3%

Cucinelli 19.0%52.5% 234.0%

Moncler (8.5%)3.0% 27.2%

LVMH (13.4%)(6.5%) 53.4%

Swatch278 373 389

Zegna 286 211na

Burberry 308 517556

Kering 403499593

Ferragamo 446589639

LUXURY GOODS SECTOR AVERAGE9153514

FTSE MIB 126442454

source FACTSET at 31 December 2024