Richemont’s latest financial results, for the quarter ended June 30, show sales rose by 1% at constant exchange rates but, just as Swatch Group reported yesterday, its performance has been dragged down by an 18% slump in the key Asia Pacific markets of China and Hong Kong.
Some of that demand is being soaked up in Japan, where a weak yen is making it an attractive shopping destination for Asian tourists. Sales in the country were up by 59%, year-on-year.
Swatch Group has greater exposure than Richemont to Chinese shoppers.
Before the pandemic, Chinese customers were thought to account for over 50% of group sales, whether buying at home or on their travels to global cities like London and New York.
Swatch Group is also more reliant on watch sales than Richemont, where its Jewellery Maisons including Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels, account for 69% of turnover.
Richemont reported sales of €5.27 billion for the April to June quarter. Jewellery Maisons saw sales rise by 4% at constant currency to €3.66 billion. Specialist Watchmakers sales dropped by 13% to €911 million.
Richemont’s jewellery and watch maisons are steadily increasing their proportion of direct to consumer sales. Its own boutiques saw sales rise by 2% to €3.63 billion in the quarter while wholesale and royalty income dropped by 5% to €1.32 billion.
Richemont says that direct to client sales have seen further progression in the quarter, particularly for jewellery brands.
Richemont’s most mature markets, Europe (€1.2 billion in Q1) and the Americas (€1.2 billion), saw sales growth of 5% and 10% respectively.
