Geneva – Richemont reported strong sales growth among its jewelry brands in the first half of the year, noting that jewelry now accounts for one-third of its total sales.
Van Cleef & Arpels, Cartier and Giampiero Bodino posted an 18 percent year-over-year increase in sales to $3.42 billion in the period ended Sept. 30. Sales were strong at the company’s own boutiques, with both jewelry and Cartier and Van Cleef watches selling well.
Richemont’s luxury watch brands, meanwhile, continued to struggle, hampered by declining demand in the Asia-Pacific region.
Sales for Richemont’s specialist watchmakers rose 8 percent to $1.88 billion in the first half of the year, with favorable exchange rate effects offsetting slower sales. Richemont owns Vacheron Constantin, Baume & Mercier, Jaeger-LeCoultre, A. Lange & Söhne, Officine Panerai, IWC, Piaget and Roger Dubuis.
Total sales for the Geneva-based luxury goods conglomerate rose 15 percent year-over-year to $6.25 million, though that growth totaled only 3 percent at constant exchange rates (when factoring for currency fluctuations.) Profit grew 22 percent.
In a company statement issued Friday, Chairman Johann Rupert called the company’s first-half results “satisfactory” but predicted the rest of the year would be challenging.
