Richemont saw sales drop by 47% in the quarter ended on June 30 as the Coronavirus pandemic shut down retail across the world.
The Swiss luxury-goods group, home to brands including Cartier, Panerai and IWC, said sales for the quarter fell to €1.99 billion ($2.27 billion) from €3.74 billion a year before.
Sales by the group’s watchmakers were down by 56% from €833 million to €359 million at actual exchange rates. Jewellery sales were down by 41%.
European sales for the whole of Richemont fell by 59%, while the Americas region saw a 60% drop.
Asia was down by just 29% thanks to China reopening earliest and nothing a rise in sales of 47% for the quarter.
Richemont said online retail sales across its brands accounted for 8% of turnover, up from just 2% for the same quarter last year.
Online Distributors, the ecommerce retail business division that houses Watchfinder and YNAP, saw sales drop by 42%.
“Performance reflected unprecedented levels of disruption and widespread temporary closures of internal, franchise or multi-brand retail partner stores, as well as the closure of online distributors’ fulfillment centers,” the luxury watch and jewelry maker said.
As of June 30, all distribution centers and most stores are open again, Richemont said, with exceptions in the Americas region and in travel retail.
