Following the announcement yesterday of decreasing sales for the Swatch Group, particularly impacted by the industry’s challenging situation in China and South East Asia, it is time today for one of its main competitors, Richemont Group, to announce its sales for the first quarter ended 30 June 2024. Contrary to expectations, global sales are to be seen as stable despite uncertainties, with sales up 1% at constant exchange rates. The owner of Cartier and watchmakers such as Lange, IWC, Vacheron or Jaeger however reports contrasted results depending on the regions and business areas, with a difficult situation for the Specialist Watchmakers.
Looking at the large picture, the Richemont Group seems to resist the current macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainties, with sales up 1% at constant exchange rates compared to the same period in 2023 – April 1st to June 30th. The Group reports sales at EUR 5,268 million for Q1 2024 versus EUR 5,322 million for Q1 2023, a decrease of 1% due to actual exchange rates. Overall, the situation is stable for the Group.
Looking more closely at Richemont’s reports reveals disparities, depending on the regions and business areas. While Europe surprisingly reports growth, at +5% and the Americas benefits from a rather solid expansion of 10%, Japan is notably impressive with sales up 59% – reported as fuelled by domestic demand and tourists from Asia and America, with sales driven by a weakened Yen. However, Asia Pacific, a crucial market for watches and jewellery (35% of the group’s sales), is massively impacted by low overall demand, reporting sales down 18% for the period. China, Hong Kong and Macau combined report sales down 27%. Middle East remains positive too, at +8%.
Also important, Richemont reports solid sales for its jewellery brands (Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, Buccellati) with sales up 4%. Also important, these 3 brands combined account for close to 70% of the group’s sales. Sales for Specialist Watchmakers were, however, down 13% with Japan’s performance only partially offsetting lower sales in Europe and Asia. Richemont notes the resilience of Vacheron Constantin and A. Lange & Söhne. Watchmaking brands now only account for 17% of the group’s sales.
For more details, please consult the full report at richemont.com.
https://monochrome-watches.com/industry-news-richemont-reports-stable-sales-for-q1-2024-results-down-for-watches/