LVMH’s watch and jewellery sales registered a rise in the first nine months of the year.
The watch and jewellery division of the business delivered organic revenue growth of 7% with the group pointing to the launch of the Link Lady at at TAG Heuer and the Pilot at Zenith as two key watch products during the period. Chaumet also delivered a strong performance at its own stores, according to the luxury goods group, as did Bulgari’s Serpenti, which has been delieverd through a highly selective distribution channel.
While the nine months as a whole delivered an uplift on 2011’s watch and jewellery sales, the third quarter of 2012 was down on the previous year with sales hitting €636 million (£514.4m) compared with €690 million (£558.1m) in 2011.
The first nine months of the year have delivered a total revenue of €1.212 billion (£980.4m) for LVMH’s watch and jewellery division. The strongest quarter of the year for the watch and jewellery division was the second at €713 million (£576.7m) while the first quarter delivered €630 million (£509.5m).
The LVMH Group as a whole recorded revenue of €19.9 billion (£16.1bn) for the first nine months of 2012, an increase of 22% on the comparable period in 2011. After taking into account the consolidation of Bulgari, as of 30 June 2011, and a positive currency impact, organic revenue grew by 10%.
The group recorded a total rise of 15% in revenue for the third quarter. Organic revenue growth was 6% against tough like-for-likes in 2011. The US market continued to demonstrate momentum, the group said, while Europe and Asia also contributed to the third quarter performance.
LVMH gave a positive forward-looking statement for the remainder of the year. It said: “Despite the background of an economic slowdown in Europe, LVMH remains confident in its outlook for 2012. The group will continue to pursue its proactive strategy centered on innovation and targeted geographic expansion in the most promising markets. LVMH will rely on the power of its brands and the talent of its teams to further extend, in 2012, its global leadership position in luxury products.”
