moleskine-ipo-report-04-03-2013-mediobanca

Moleskine
SWOT Analysis
Having thoroughly explored Moleskine’s business model and future strategy, we believe that the
company’s main strengths and weaknesses are the following:
Strengths
Unique positioning of the brand, which expresses a set of intangible values (namely culture,
design, imagination, memory and travel) and is endowed with a unique heritage;
Wide potential customer base, numbering 228 million people today, expected to rise to 320
million by 2020;
Very strong brand awareness in major European countries (Italy, the UK and Germany) and
the US;
Flexible production structure based on outsourcing to third parties, which enables the group to
expand its business significantly with only a limited increase in fixed costs;
Strong relationship with suppliers of both raw materials and finished products;
Cross-age customer base (18-55 years old);
Highly-skilled management team.
Weaknesses
Small size of the business;
Business seasonality by quarter, which might increase given the planned development of ecommerce
and retail; this implies that 1H12 is likely to be weaker than 2H in terms of both
sales and m0re notably profitability.
Higher concentration of suppliers in both Paper and WTR categories (the top 5 suppliers
account for 95% of the total purchase of raw materials).
Opportunities
Ample room for growth in new and emerging markets;
Developments of the digital world and its connections with analogue;
Room for brand extension into new product categories;
Opportunities to develop the more profitable retail business.
Threats
Entry of competitors in the sector ;
Cost inflation and in particular increase in labour costs in countries where production is
outsourced;
Soft consumer environment in both Europe and the Americas.
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IPO
04 March 2013 ◆ 38