A Cartier de Panthere wristwatch on display at a Cartier luxury goods store, operated by Cie. Financiere Richemont.
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Cartier owner Richemont on Friday posted better-than-expected fiscal fourth-quarter sales, as the wealthiest spenders continued to shrug off global macroeconomic uncertainty.
Revenues at the Swiss luxury group rose 7% year-on-year at constant exchange rates to 5.17 billion euros ($5.79 billion) in the three months to the end of March, above the 4.98 billion euros forecast by analysts in an LSEG poll.
Full-year sales rose 4% to 21.4 billion euros, up on the previous year and just ahead of analyst expectations of 21.34 billion euros.
Sales rose annually across all regions, except Asia Pacific (ex. Japan) — the company’s largest market — where declines were led by a 23% drop in China. Japan led annual sales growth, up 25% at actual exchange rates, buoyed by “strong domestic and tourist spend” and a weak Japanese Yen.
Richemont had previously reported its “highest ever” quarterly sales figure in January at 6.2 billion euros, even as China demand weighed.
The earnings had, at the time, been taken as a signal of a wider turnaround in the beleaguered luxury sector. However, the specter of U.S. trade tariffs and subsequent macroeconomic uncertainty have threatened to once again hit consumer confidence and discretionary spending globally.
This is a developing story, please check back for updates.
