As a regular on the podiums, LVMH once again opened the new season of quarterly publications for the Cac 40 by announcing its turnover for the start of the year on Tuesday evening. The luxury group innovated for the occasion, replacing its somewhat austere conference call with a webcast with impeccable sound and a well-organized screen: on the left Chris Hollis, the director of financial communication, and Jean-Jacques Guiony, the financial director, who chained comments then answers to questions from analysts; on the right the progress of the presentation by slides also rejuvenated.
The turnover at March 31 was well worth this small investment because it once again proved to be higher than consensus expectations. ” Great results “, commented live an analyst, “ good start despite the geopolitical context and the ongoing health crisis “, had declared shortly before Chris Hollis.
A billion more than the consensus
The first quarter sales of LVMH (owner of Investir) reached 18 billion euros, up 29% in a favorable monetary context, since exchange rates brought 6% growth. Excluding currency effects, business still increased by 23%. The FactSet consensus was counting on billings of 17 billion euros as of March 31.
The Fashion & Leather Goods division, with Louis Vuitton and Dior as main drivers, largely ensured performance. With sales of 9.1 billion, it contributed a large half of the group’s turnover and ended the quarter with growth of 30% excluding currency effects. ” Louis Vuitton is never far from the division average “recalled Jean-Jacques Guiony, adding that the star brand of the group with 75 houses had benefited in recent months from the opening of two leather goods workshops in the Vendôme region.
The dynamism of the Fashion & Leather Goods division therefore largely offset the growth of only 2% in Wines & Spirits (with sales of 1.6 billion), which showed contrasting situations: still very strong demand for champagnes, of which volumes sold increased by 14% in the first quarter, but a contraction of 18% for Hennessy cognacs.
This situation is the result of still limited supplies in the United States for VS qualities. ” We ran out of volumes in the first quarter “, recognized the financial director. Moreover, “Maritime transport is disorganized between France and the United States. »
The Covid penalizing in China since March
In China, a completely different situation prevails: on the one hand, the Lunar New Year having been celebrated this year earlier than in 2021, “shipments took place in December, which favored the fourth quarter of 2021. On the other hand, the return of the pandemic to Chinese soil, with the strict confinements decided for large metropolises, including Shanghai and Shenzhen, have of course penalized consumption.
Despite the many questions on the subject, the group has given no quantified indication of the effects of these new health restrictions on its activities in China. Nevertheless, ” the impact was strong in the second half of March and continues today, said Jean-Jacques Guiony, while being confident about the recovery when Shanghai and Shenzhen will find their consumers: “ this is not new, we experienced this situation two years ago. We saw demand return to our stores as soon as the lockdown was over, and at the level it was before. »
In the meantime, if LVMH has experienced progress “double digit ” of its turnover in all its major markets during the first months of the year, its sales at constant currencies increased by only 8% in Asia (excluding Japan), after an 86% jump in the first quarter of 2021. Growth reached 26% in the United States, 30% in Japan and even 45% in Europe, where local customers are gradually replacing Chinese tourists, who are still deprived of long-distance travel.
In accordance with its habits, the group did not give forecasts for the year, saying at the same time ” vigilant “, in the face of the geopolitical and health context, but also “ confident “. In any case, he took the lead in the first quarter.