ZURICH (AFP) – Cartier owner Richemont reported record quarterly sales yesterday, beating expectations as a slowdown in key market China was offset by robust demand in other regions.
The group said sales reached EUR6.2 billion (USD6.3 billion) in its financial third quarter ending on December 31, a 10 per cent rise from the same period in 2023.
The performance, which includes the key holiday shopping season, was stronger than forecast by analysts surveyed by Swiss business news agency AWP who had expected sales to reach EUR5.6 billion.
Sales in the Asia-Pacific region fell seven per cent in the third quarter, dragged down by an 18-per-cent drop in China, Hong Kong and Macau.
China is a major market for luxury companies but the sector’s sales were hit last year by weak domestic consumption in the world’s second biggest economy.
Richemont reported healthier sales elsewhere in Asia, with “positive results” in most countries and double-digit growth in South Korea.
In Japan, whose performance is counted separately from the rest of Asia, sales rose 19 per cent.
