Luxury fracas

11 January 2019 By Lisa Jucca Follow @LJucca

The Cartier owner said last year’s French protests were partly to blame for slowing organic growth. But Hermes and LVMH are more exposed to France, which brings in just 6 percent of Richemont’s revenue. Weakness in Hong Kong is a bigger worry for the $35 billion watchmaker.

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Richemont said on Jan. 11 sales in the quarter to December rose 5 percent at constant exchange rates and excluding recent acquisitions, slower than the 8 percent increase it reported in the six months to September. The luxury group said social unrest in France, which affected tourism and led to store closures on six consecutive Saturdays, was partly responsible for falling sales in Europe.

Organic quarterly sales growth slowed in Hong Kong but grew at a double-digit rate in mainland China.

Including recently acquired online platforms Yoox Net-a-Porter and Watchfinder, quarterly revenue rose 24 percent to 3.9 billion euros.

France represents 6 percent of global sales for Richemont, according to RBC analysts.

Richemont shares were up 2.8 percent at 67.6 Swiss francs by 0910 GMT on Jan. 11.

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