LONDON – Cartier dad or mum Compagnie Financière Richemont held regular within the first fiscal half regardless of the turbulent backdrop for luxurious with gross sales falling 1 % to 10.1 billion euros, and revenue declining to 457 million due mainly to the sale of Yoox Web-a-porter to Mytheresa.
The declines got here from continued weak demand in Asia-Pacific, the place gross sales have been down 19 %, led by China. In contrast, the Americas and Japan continued to develop, at 10 % and 32 % respectively within the six-month interval.
Gross sales of jewellery, Richemont’s strongest class, rose 2 % whereas specialist watches fell 17 %, dented primarily by the slowdown in China.
Richemont stated the decline in demand for watches “highlights the necessity for self-discipline and warning concerning overproduction, and underscores the significance of adapting to altering market circumstances, which can finally contribute to sustaining larger product desirability.”
Gross sales at Richemont’s “different” class, which incorporates the style and equipment maisons, have been up 4 %. Style and accesories rose 2 % pushed by the efficiency of the Alaïa and Peter Millar manufacturers.
Total, the opposite enterprise space recorded a 52 million euros working loss, 23 million euros of which was from the Style and Equipment division.
Working revenue for the interval was down 17 % to 2.21 billion euros. Revenue from persevering with operations fell to 1.73 billion euros from 2.16 million euros within the six-month interval.
Richemont chairman Johann Rupert stated the group had delivered “sustained resilience in a world the place uncertainty has change into the norm. We noticed strong gross sales development throughout most of our areas offsetting continued weak spot in Chinese language demand, which, as I had predicted, will take longer to get well and is especially affecting our specialist watchmakers.”
Rupert emphasised that “what we’re seeing on the planet at this time will not be unprecedented. It illustrates simply how necessary it’s to have sturdy management with a long-term imaginative and prescient, to proceed to put money into our maisons’ excellence in crafting and advertising and marketing distinctive and timeless creations, to handle our provide with self-discipline, and to have an agile construction and a strong stability sheet.”
He added that whereas he stays cautious within the unsure context, “I’m assured in our potential to navigate the present in addition to future cycles and to ship sustained worth over the long run for all stakeholders.”
