The luxury goods industry has recovered from the impact of the pandemic. The most recent analysis by management consultancy Deloitte shows who makes it into the top-selling companies.
Boom in the luxury goods industry
The reopening of many stores and recovering consumption, along with fewer restrictions from the Covid-19 pandemic, are the reasons for the rebound in the luxury goods industry, according to the report. Overall, the top 100 luxury companies generated sales of $305 billion in 2021, $53 billion more than in the previous year. The result from 2019, before the Covid 19 pandemic, was exceeded by 24 billion US dollars (22.81 billion euros).
The ten leading companies alone generated 56.2 percent of sales with 171.24 billion US dollars (163.19 billion euros) and increased their share of total sales with luxury goods by 4.8 percentage points. In addition, the top ten companies account for 84.7 percent of the total net profit of the 100 companies.
The ten leading companies in the luxury industry – an overview
The luxury groups in the top 10 will all generate sales of more than 7.8 billion US dollars (7.42 billion euros) in the 2021 financial year. The list is still headed by luxury goods group LVMH Moët Hennessy-Louis Vuitton SE, whose revenues increased more than 55 percent year-on-year to $54.94 billion. Gucci’s parent company Kering SA, meanwhile, posted a 34.7 percent increase in revenue to $20.86 (19.84 billion euros) and sales of the Estée Lauder Companies Inc., which grew in recent weeks through an acquisition of Tom Ford’s eponymous Brand that made headlines grew by 13.4 percent to 16.22 billion US dollars (15.43 billion euros).
Meanwhile, Chanel Limited and Compagnie Financière Richemont SA traded places. The turnover of the Swiss luxury goods group – which sold a majority stake in the online trading platform Yoox-Net-a-Porter to the online retailer Farfetch in August – fell by 6.7 percent to 12.86 billion US dollars (12.23 billion euros ). The group thus dropped to sixth place, while the French fashion house Chanel increased sales by 547 percent to 15.64 billion US dollars (14.88 billion euros) and thus rose to fourth place. The two companies will be separated from the cosmetics group L’Oréal Luxe with 14.59 billion US dollars (13.88 billion euros).
Hermès International SCA, Chow Tai Fook Jewelery Group Limited, Rolex SA and China National Gold Group Gold Jewelery Co., Ltd follow in places seven through ten, up two places each, and seven places in the case of China’s National Gold Group, respectively.
Rolex returned to the top ten for the first time since 2014, while China National Gold Group Jewelery Co made the list for the first time. The situation is different at PVH Corp, the parent company of brands such as Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein. This dropped from eighth place to 13th place. The group has suffered a drop in sales due to the effects of the Covid 19 pandemic, according to the report. Also, EssilorLuxottica SA, the eyewear manufacturer that ranked seventh last year, was excluded from this study because the company’s revenue could not be estimated following a change in financial reporting.
Luxury from Germany
Five companies from Germany made it into the top 100 companies in the luxury industry. The Metzingen-based fashion group Hugo Boss AG is the highest-ranking German company with an increase in sales of 43.2 percent and 3.29 billion US dollars (3.13 billion euros). With an estimated turnover of 667 million US dollars (634.41 million euros), Gerhard D. Wempe GmbH & Co. KG, which owns the watch manufacturers Wempe, Glashütte and By Kim, occupies 62nd place, followed by the Munich-based company MCM with 551 million US dollars (524 million euros) in 66th place. The companies in the top 100 recorded revenues of 240 million US dollars (228.09 million euros), in the previous year the threshold was 182 million US dollars ( 172.97 million euros).
While most luxury goods companies continue to come from Italy, 23 in total, eight French companies – including LVMH, Kering, L’Oréal and Hermes – account for more than a third of the 2022 top 100 luxury goods sales.