A handbag made at the Louis Vuitton workshop
by Mimosa Spencer and Silvia Aloisi
(Archyde.com) – LVMH on Tuesday reported better-than-expected third-quarter sales as wealthy customers flocked to its fashion brands and Americans took advantage of the strong dollar to visit stores in Europe.
The world’s largest luxury group, which has also benefited from an improvement in its activities in China thanks to the easing of anti-COVID-19 restrictions, however warned that sales of the jeweler Tiffany’s products were slowing in the United States. United.
Demand for luxury goods has so far proved resilient to inflation, as affluent consumers have been less affected by the cost-of-living crisis which has led the less fortunate to cut back on discretionary spending.
“The relief of being out of the pandemic alive has overshadowed any bad news. Consumers who can are adopting a ‘carpe diem’ attitude: no one wants to be the richest person in the graveyard,” said Bernstein analyst Luca Solca. .
The quarterly turnover of the owner of Louis Vuitton and Dior amounted to 19.76 billion euros, representing organic growth of 19% over one year, while the consensus of Visible Alpha quoted by UBS expected a 13% growth.
Sales in Europe, the United States and Japan have risen sharply since the start of the year, due to solid demand from local customers and the resumption of international travel, the group said in a press release.
“In the field of fashion and leather goods, part of the activity has moved from the United States to Europe, with American citizens benefiting from the strength of the dollar,” the chief financial officer of LVMH said on Tuesday. , Jean-Jacques Guiony, to analysts during a conference call.
“Asia (including China) saw less progress in the first nine months of 2022, although the last quarter improved thanks to the partial easing of health restrictions,” the group said.
The fashion and leather goods division, the group’s largest, posted growth of 22% compared to the same period of 2021.
The release from LVMH, which also owns Sephora, Bulgari and Tiffany, marks the start of earnings season for the luxury sector.
Hermès and Kering, owner of Gucci, will publish their quarterly sales on October 20.
(Report Mimosa Spencer and Silvia Aloisi, French version Diana Mandiá, edited by Sophie Louet)