The jewelery and watch group Richemont got off to a good start in the new financial year and once again grew well in the first quarter. The jewelry business in particular made a positive contribution to growth.
Group sales rose by 20 percent to 5.26 billion euros in the first quarter of 2022/23, as the manufacturer of luxury watches from brands such as Piaget and IWC and expensive jewelry from Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels announced on Friday. Calculated in local currencies, the increase was 12 percent.
Richemont’s sales figures have exceeded analysts’ estimates. On average, they had expected sales of EUR 5.16 billion and an increase of 9.4 percent in local currencies.
The jewelry business made the greatest contribution to growth. There, sales in the first quarter, which ended at the end of June, rose by a fifth to 3.02 billion euros. But the watch business also grew significantly by 18 percent to 1.00 billion euros.
Sales in the group’s online business also increased: they climbed by 8 percent to 691 million euros. Richemont has not given an update on the partner search for the development of its online sales platform.
The Japan region saw the strongest growth with growth of 83 percent. Overall, however, demand in the Asia Pacific region is declining. All other regions recorded growth.
As usual, Richemont does not provide a concrete outlook for the further course of the 2022/23 financial year. (dpa)