Richemont interim profit up on jewellery division and sales growth

Compagnie Financiere Richemont SA on Friday attributed its "solid" financial performance in the first half of its financial year to its persistently strong jewellery division and robust sales growth in most regions.

For the six months that ended September 30, the Swiss luxury goods firm posted pretax profit of EUR2.22 billion, up 5.7% from EUR2.10 billion a year earlier.

Following double-digit sales growth in most regions, revenue was EUR10.62 billion, up 5.1% from ZAR10.10 billion, despite "macroeconomic headwinds".

Most regions performed strongly in the first half, led by double-digit sales growth in Europe, Americas, and Middle East & Africa regions. In the second quarter of its financial year, China, Hong Kong and Macau combined returned to growth, while other regions maintained their solid sales momentum, the company said.

Jewellery Maisons, which houses Buccellati, Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels and Vhernier, continued to "excel", while several Specialist Watchmakers and Fashion & Accessories Maisons showed "some encouraging signs", Richemont said.

Sales at Jewellery Maisons rose 9.2% to EUR7.75 billion from EUR7.10 billion, supported by a rise in demand for jewellery and watch collections across geographies.

"After a challenging 18-month-period for the global watch market, the group's Specialist Watchmakers saw a slower rate of decline of 6% in the first half, delivering sales of EUR1.6 billion," the group said.

Specialist Watchmakers sales fell 5.9% to EUR1.56 billion from EUR1.66 billion.

Basic earnings per 'A' share and 10 'B' shares multiplied to 3.085 euro cents from 0.782 cents. Profit from discontinued operations was EUR17 million, compared to a loss of EUR1.27 billion.

In April this year, Richemont completed the sale of its online retail unit YOOX Net-a-Porter to Mytheresa.com GmbH. Richemont received 49.7 million Mytheresa shares, representing 33% of the company's fully diluted share capital following the transaction.

Looking ahead, Richemont said it is evident that it will need to continue navigating through "uncertain times", given that recovery paths remain "unsteady" and that external pressures show no sign of abating.