Cartier owner Richemont sales rise 10% in December quarter despite ongoing China weakness

Cartier owner Richemont on Thursday reported a 10% increase in fiscal third-quarter sales even as China demand weighed, in a positive signal for the health of Europe’s luxury sector over the holiday shopping period.

Sales rose to 6.2 billion euros ($6.38 billion) at constant exchange rates in the three months to the end of December, which the Swiss luxury brand dubbed its “highest ever” quarterly sales figure. That was well above 1% increase expected by analysts in a consensus cited by RBC, according to Reuters.

The company reported double-digit growth across all regions except Asia Pacific, where sales fell 7%, led by an 18% decline in the combined regions of mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau.

The results mark a return to growth for the company, which reported a 1% year-on-year dip in first-half sales to September, citing a challenging macroeconomic backdrop and tougher conditions in China. Sales for that six-month period came in at 10.1 billion euros.

The high-end group had until then been an outlier in a broader luxury downturn, reporting record full-year sales in May.

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