Richemont Reports Strong Performance in Q3, Europe Included

PARIS — Compagnie Financière Richemont continued to report strong sales, with double-digit gains in its third quarter ended Dec. 31 across all regions, channels and business areas compared with both 2020 and 2019, before the pandemic hit.

Revenues for the Swiss luxury group increased 35 percent to 5.66 billion euros in reported terms on the prior-year period, and grew 32 percent at constant currency rates, significantly outpacing consensus estimates. Compared with the same three months in 2019, they gained 36 percent and 38 percent, respectively.

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For its core jewelry maisons business, sales grew 41 percent in reported terms to 3.34 billion euros year-over-year, which represented a 55 percent gain on the same period in 2019. Growth was “broad-based across product lines and price points,” the company said.

The specialist watchmakers division grew 29 percent to 977 million euros, or 19 percent on the three-month period in 2019, “reaping the benefits of prior investments and client-centric activities,” Richemont said.

Other business, which include the fashion and accessories houses Alaïa, AZ Factory, Chloé, Dunhill, Montblanc and Peter Millar, also increased strongly, with sales up 40 percent to 610 million euros, representing 17 percent growth on the third quarter of 2019. Growth was sustained by the Chloé, Montblanc and Peter Millar brands, the company said. At like-for-like structure — excluding the Delvaux business acquired in June last year — sales for the division grew 11 percent on the third quarter of 2019.

Regionally, gains were particularly strong in the Americas, where sales grew 59 percent to 1.33 billion euros year-over-year in reported terms, and in Europe, with revenues up 44 percent to 1.41 billion euros. In Asia Pacific excluding Japan, sales grew 23 percent to 2.13 billion euros, while in Japan, they were up 16 percent to 389 million euros. In the Middle East and Africa, revenues increased 33 percent to 398 million euros.

Broken down by distribution channel, retail sales increased 49 percent to 3.4 billion, while online retail business progressed 22 percent to 1.03 billion. “Direct sales to consumers have further strengthened to reach 78 percent of group sales compared to 75 percent in the prior-year period,” the Swiss company stated.

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