Nuance's 50% shareholder Stefanel has indicated that an IPO could be on the cards for the retailer in 2008, in line with previous statements the company has made.

Stefanel Ceo Giuseppe Stefanel was quoted by Italian press this week as indicating the same at an unrelated presentation in Milan where Stefanel was launching a new line of clothing by Antonio Marras, artistic director of Kenzo.

Stefanel is also quoted as saying that the Nuance investment was finally paying off for the Italian fashion company and he believes it will only get better after five years of joint ownership alongside Gruppo Pam.

A flotation of Nuance has always been an objective of its two shareholders and recent important contract gains at Antalya in Turkey, Schiphol in Amsterdam and the sale of a 40% stake in its loss-making Australasian division to Newrest (for around $52m) should all assist in improving the retailer's bottom line.

Giuseppe Stefanel has long been a hands on shareholder and his recent remarks may have excited many, but the reality is that the pull through of Nuance's new businesses and the reduction of losses in the Australian business – and also the important and welcome loss of its draining Copenhagen Airport contract – will mostly be reflected as improvements at the end of this year and more significantly by comparison with 2007 in next year's accounts.

For example, Nuance's new 17-year contract to operate shops at all Antalya Airport's terminals is estimated to be worth around E.3.2bn ($4.2bn) over the full contract duration, but this does not come into full force until September 2009.

Similarly, its 50-50 joint venture with Amsterdam Airport Schiphol and the acquisition of a 50% stake in Schiphol Airport Retail B.V. is expected to become effective on August 1 this year. Obviously there will be a big initial acquisition cost to absorb on this latter business.

Meanwhile, TREND/The Business understands that there are no plans at Nuance to undertake any preparatory work towards an IPO in 2007 and any decision on any IPO in 2008 is yet to be taken.