The world’s largest supplier of luxury items has hardly been affected by the geopolitical and economic uncertainties in recent months: On Tuesday, the Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton (LVMH) group of companies announced surprisingly strong sales figures for the third quarter of the 2022 financial year.
According to the company, consolidated sales in the period from July to September, at almost 19.8 billion euros, exceeded the level of the same quarter of the previous year by 20 percent and thus rose far more significantly than the analysts had expected in advance. Organically – i.e. adjusted for exchange rate fluctuations and changes in the Group portfolio – the growth rate was 19 percent and thus only slightly below the figure for the first half of the year (+21 percent).
The demand for fashion and leather goods is developing particularly dynamically
In the first nine months of the current year, LVMH generated sales of EUR 56.5 billion, which means an increase of 28 percent (organically +20 percent) compared to the corresponding level of the previous year. The fashion and leather goods division achieved the strongest growth: its sales increased by 31 percent (organically +24 percent) to 27.8 billion euros. According to the group, the brands Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, Celine and Loewe delivered strong results.
In the Selective Retailing segment with the chains Sephora and DFS, which had been particularly affected by the effects of the Covid 19 pandemic in the same period of the previous year, sales rose by 30 percent (organically +20 percent) to 10.1 billion euros. Sales of watches and jewelry grew by 23 percent (organically +16 percent) to 7.6 billion euros, with wine and spirits by 23 percent (organically +14 percent) to 5.2 billion euros and with perfumes and cosmetics by 19 percent (organically +12 percent) to 5.6 billion euros.
Strong growth in Europe, the USA and Japan are boosting sales
According to the group, sales in Europe, the USA and Japan have developed particularly dynamically in the current year. In these markets, LVMH benefited “from solid demand from domestic customers and the recovery in international travel”.
In Asia, on the other hand, the increases were lower due to pandemic-related restrictions in the first half of the year. After the partial easing of the measures, which primarily impacted business in China, the pace of growth in the region increased again in the third quarter, the company said.