A Cartier de Panthere wristwatch exhibited in a store of Luxury Cartier products, operated by Cie. Finanriere Richemont.
Bloomberg | Getty images
On Friday, the owner of Cartier, Richemont, published better than expected financial financial sales of the fourth quarter, while the wealthiest expenditure continued to raise global macroeconomic uncertainty.
Revenues from the Swiss luxury group increased by 7% in annual shift at constant exchange rates to 5.17 billion euros ($ 5.79 billion) during the three months to the end of March, higher than 4.98 billion euros planned by analysts of an LSEG survey.
Actions increased by 7.1% to 9:54 a.m., it is time to be negotiated at the top of the Stoxx 600.
The fourth quarter sales bump was led by two -digit growth in the group’s jewelry houses division, which includes Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels and Buccellati.
Sales have nevertheless decreased in the segment of specialized watchmakers of the company, which presents the Piaget and Roger Dubuis brands, led by the weakness of the Asia-Pacific region.
Annual sales increased by 4% to 21.4 billion euros, up the previous year and just ahead of the analyst’s expectations of 21.34 billion euros.
Sales increased each year in all regions, except Asia -Pacific (e.g. Japan) – the largest market in the company – where the decreases were led by a drop of 23% in China. Japan has led annual sales growth, up 25% at real exchange rates, supported by “solid domestic and tourist expenses” and a low Japanese yen.
“The performance of the group was generally robust, driven by remarkable growth in our jewelry houses and our retail trade, and an improved momentum in our” other “activities”, said the president of Richemont, Johann Rupert, in a press release. The so-called “other” company segment includes its used watch retailer Watchfinder & Co.
The president has nevertheless added that the current uncertainties in progress would continue to require “strong agility and discipline”.
Boffa Global Research said in a note last week that Richemont is faced with three world opposite winds: gold prices, American prices and exchange fluctuations, by the force of the Swiss franc and the weakness of the US dollar.
However, bank analysts added that the company’s pricing power could provide a rear wind.
“We think Price will cover half of the winds,” they wrote. “Price, product mixture and higher capacity use are the most obvious compensations.”
Richemont had previously pointed out its “highest time” quarterly sales figure in January at 6.2 billion euros, even if demand in China weighed.
The gains had, at the time, took the signal of a wider turnaround in the besieged luxury sector. However, the spectrum of American trade rates and subsequent macroeconomic uncertainty threatened to hit consumer confidence and discretionary expenses worldwide.
This is a story in development, please come back for updates.
