Richemont’s jewelry sales in the past fiscal year jumped after strong demand outweighed a decline in appetite for watches.
Revenue from the Geneva-based luxury group’s jewelry “maisons” jumped 7 percent to $6.79 billion (EUR 6.05 billion) in the fiscal year that ended March 31.
The maisons – Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels and Giampiero Bodino – saw “good” demand for their jewelry collections but watches were negatively affected by a challenging environment in Asia Pacific and the Americas. The overall growth offset the impact of a number of flagship store closures for renovation.
Separately, revenue from the group’s specialist watchmakers, which include Baume & Mercier and Roger Dubuis, rose 3 percent to $3.62 billion. Sentiment in Hong Kong, Macau and the Americas was negative, while a strong Swiss franc affected the cost of goods sold, Richemont said.
Group-wide revenue advanced 6 percent to $12.43 billion driven by growth in jewelry, leather goods and clothing. Demand grew in Europe, the Middle East, the Americas and Japan.
The company enjoyed “double-digit” growth in the first half of the fiscal year but the second half saw a decline. Concerns over geopolitical risks and the impact on clients’ behavior proved justified, the company said.
Profit for the year soared 67 percent mainly because of a non-cash post-tax gain related to the merger of the NET-A-PORTER and YOOX groups in October and the non-recurrence of losses largely due to the revaluation of the Swiss franc in the prior year.
