The European Green Deal aims to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions in the European Union by 2050. A central element of this strategy is the EU Taxonomy, a classification system that defines “environmentally sustainable” economic activities. Its purpose is to steer capital flows toward sustainable investments by classifying economic activities based on their contribution to six environmental objectives.
For fiscal year 2025, HUGO BOSS conducted a thorough analysis and concluded, consistent with the prior year, that no financially material taxonomy-aligned sales, CapEx, or OpEx are to be reported, in particular as our primary economic activities are currently not covered by the EU Taxonomy. HUGO BOSS did not apply Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/73, which aims to simplify the content and presentation of Taxonomy disclosures and entered into force on January 28, 2026, for fiscal year 2025. By exercising the available phase-in option, the Company ensured consistency with the Taxonomy requirements applicable at year-end 2025. The revised disclosure requirements will be applied from the reporting year 2026 onward. The following section presents the mandatory disclosures in accordance with the EU Taxonomy Regulation.
Reporting on “environmentally sustainable” economic activities
The EU Taxonomy requires companies to report on their taxonomy-aligned, or “environmentally sustainable,” economic activities in accordance with EU criteria. This involves disclosing the shares of sales, capital expenditure (CapEx), and operating expenses (OpEx) related to both taxonomy-eligible and taxonomy-aligned economic activities for all six environmental objectives.
Taxonomy-eligible economic activities are those that meet the respective activity descriptions outlined in the EU Taxonomy, regardless of whether they fulfill the technical screening criteria. Economic activities become taxonomy-aligned if they make a significant contribution to the respective environmental objective by complying with the technical screening criteria, do no significant harm (“DNSH”) to the other environmental objectives, and adhere to the minimum safeguards set out by the EU Taxonomy.
The delegated acts published to date in connection with the EU Taxonomy on the six environmental objectives still only cover a limited number of sectors and economic activities. For the primary economic activities of companies in the global apparel market, and thus also of HUGO BOSS, the delegated acts currently only cover a very limited number of potentially relevant economic activities in connection with the objective “Transition to a circular economy,” including the sale of second-hand goods and repair and refurbishment services. While these activities currently only play a minor role in our business model, our primary economic activities are by definition not taxonomy-eligible. However, there are some activities listed in the delegated acts that, while not revenue-generating, are relevant to our Company’s basic infrastructure such as real estate or energy generation facilities.
In light of the broad range of potentially eligible economic activities, HUGO BOSS applies the principle of materiality when reporting on the EU Taxonomy. Consistent with our approach in the prior year, we classify an economic activity as taxonomy-eligible if its KPI value at economic activity level is at least 0.5% of the total sales or total CapEx denominator.
Sales
The core business of HUGO BOSS is not covered by the current EU Taxonomy criteria. Therefore, we report the shares of taxonomy-eligible and taxonomy-aligned sales in fiscal year 2025 as 0%, as in the previous year. Irrespective of this, HUGO BOSS is striving to significantly expand its activities in circularity going forward, having firmly anchored a clear commitment to “Increase Circularity” in its sustainability strategy. Resource Use and Circular Economy
Capital expenditure (CapEx)
For fiscal year 2025, as in the prior year no economic activities were identified with CapEx amounts exceeding the defined materiality threshold, except for the construction of a new office building at our headquarters in Metzingen (Germany), which qualifies under the taxonomy-eligible activity 7.1, “Construction of new buildings.” HUGO BOSS is pursuing platinum certification from the German Sustainable Building Council (DGNB) for the building, with completion expected in 2026. While the DGNB certification reflects a high standard of sustainability, it does not fully cover all EU Taxonomy criteria. As a result, complete evidence of alignment with these specific criteria was unavailable as of the reporting date, and therefore, the CapEx related to the office building project is reported as not taxonomy-aligned for fiscal year 2025.
Consequently, the taxonomy-eligible CapEx for 2025 in relation to the total CapEx incurred of EUR 385 million (“denominator”) amounts to 7% (2024: 2% with a denominator of EUR 645 million). The share of taxonomy-aligned CapEx, again in relation to the denominator, amounts to 0% (2024: 0%). In accordance with the taxonomy regulation, the CapEx to be used in determining the denominator comprises additions to property, plant, and equipment and intangible assets before depreciation, amortization, and revaluations, as well as right-of-use asset additions from long-term leases. The amount of the denominator can be reconciled to the disclosures made in the Combined Management Report under “Financial Position” and in the Consolidated Financial Statements under Note 9. Financial Position, Capital Expenditure
Operational expenses (OpEx)
In accordance with the EU Taxonomy, the OpEx used to calculate the denominator includes direct costs relating to research and development, building renovation, short-term leasing, maintenance, and repair. However, the majority of the OpEx of HUGO BOSS, such as selling and marketing, administration, and logistics expenses, do not fall under this definition. For fiscal year 2025, the OpEx denominator amounts to EUR 122 million (2024: EUR 128 million). In relation to the Company’s total OpEx of EUR 2,236 million for 2025 (reconcilable to the operating expenses presented in the consolidated income statement; 2024: EUR 2,299 million), the denominator is deemed immaterial. Consequently, in line with the specifications in Annex I of the delegated acts on Article 8 of the EU Taxonomy, HUGO BOSS has opted to waive the determination of taxonomy-eligible and taxonomy-aligned OpEx for fiscal year 2025. Accordingly, both shares are reported as 0% (2024: 0%). Earnings Development, Income Statement
Climate risk analysis
As in prior years, HUGO BOSS conducted an analysis of physical climate risks for its key Company locations, meeting the requirements of the EU Taxonomy, and the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), also encompassing the location of the mentioned investment project. The system-based analysis uses the emission reference scenarios established by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). No significant short- to medium-term physical climate risks were identified for the respective project, ensuring there is no significant harm (“DNSH”) to the environmental objective of “climate change adaptation.” As a result, the Company deems that no immediate adaptation measures are required. Climate Change
Minimum safeguards
Compliance with the minimum safeguards, which comprise the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, including the ILO Core Labor Standards and the International Bill of Human Rights, was thoroughly reviewed by topic experts at HUGO BOSS. As in the previous year, HUGO BOSS complies with all the standards outlined. Workers in the Value Chain, Business Conduct
Additional information
For additional information on the taxonomy-eligible and taxonomy-aligned proportions of sales, CapEx, and OpEx, please refer to the section “Additional Disclosures on the EU Taxonomy.” Additional Disclosures on the Combined Non-financial Statement, Additional Disclosures on the EU Taxonomy