Geneva, Switzerland-While Richemont had a strong first quarter overall, the luxury conglomerate reported a slowdown in jewellery sales in the Americas in what it described as a “subdued” environment.
Richemont said Monday that its jewellery brands – Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels and Buccellati – posted the strongest sales growth among its three divisions in the first quarter, with sales rising 24 percent year-on-year (at constant exchange rates) to €3.6 billion ($4.05 billion).
The company said that sales increased across all channels (wholesale, retail and online) and regions except the Americas, where they were “broadly flat”, although it noted that American tourists contributed to sales growth in Europe in the first quarter.
The company’s watch brands, meanwhile, saw sales rise 10 per cent to €1.06 billion ($1.19 billion) in the first quarter.
Richemont said watch sales increased in most regions and for most of the eight brands it has in its Specialist Watchmakers unit. A. Lange & Söhne, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Piaget and Vacheron Constantin all had a particularly outstanding quarter, it said.
The businesses that Richemont classifies as “other”, which includes Watchfinder & Co, posted a 6 percent increase in sales to 662 million euros (744.1 million dollars). The unit reported sales growth across all brands and in almost all regions, including the Americas.
Sales fell 8 per cent at Yoox Net-a-Porter, which Richemont now classifies as “discontinued operations” after announcing plans to sell most of its stake in the online luxury business last summer.
Richemont noted in its Q1 results that online-only retailers are facing a “globally challenging environment”.
Overall, Richemont posted 19 per cent year-on-year growth, with sales totalling €5.32 billion ($5.98 billion) in the first quarter ended 30 June.
A strong recovery in Asia Pacific, where the lifting of COVID restrictions and soft comps drove a 40 percent increase in sales, offset the performance in the Americas, where sales declined 2 percent on lower wholesale sales and strong year-on-year comps.
Sales also increased in the Middle East and Africa (+15 percent), Japan (+14 percent) and Europe (+11 percent).
All of Richemont’s distribution channels also recorded sales growth, with retail sales up 24 percent, online sales up 2 percent and wholesale and royalties up 11 percent.
