This week Italian fashion and textile group Marzotto reported that its sales rose 3.4% year on year in the first quarter, helped by adding designer label Valentino to its rack. Marzotto said first-quarter turnover totalles EUR544m, 86% of which were generated by its clothing unit, which includes German ready-t--wear label Hugo Boss.

Marzotto bought lossmaking Valentino last march as part of a strategy to shift out of the drooping textile market but the Rome-based label helped cut Marzotto's operating profit by more that 30% last year. Earlier this year, Marzotto forecast it should see slight growth in both its sales and operating margin during 2003, despite the cloudy economic outlook.