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PARIS (Reuters) – Hermès on Friday reported a 23% increase in its turnover at constant exchange rates in the first quarter, driven in particular by Chinese New Year sales, the return of tourists to Europe and a continued growth in the United States.
The turnover of the French luxury group reached 3.38 billion euros in the first three months of the year. HSBC analysts on average had forecast sales growth of 17.5% year-on-year for the period.
On the Paris Stock Exchange, the title of the manufacturer of Birkin bags climbed at 08:26 GMT by 0.97% to 1,964.40 euros, while the CAC 40 took 0.18% at the same time.
“Overall, we continue to view Hermès as one of the most qualitative names in the luxury sector, and the strong momentum in the first quarter is proof of this,” praised Credit Suisse analysts who were targeting growth. of turnover by 16%.
Sales rose 26% in Japan and 23% in the rest of Asia, driven by a very strong Chinese New Year, Hermès said in a statement. They posted growth of 23.9% in Europe, with the increase in tourist flows.
Growth was very consistent between regions, with France and Japan in the lead, but also America, a region highly anticipated in the context of these results, note analysts at JPMorgan.
Indeed, the rival LVMH, which kicked off the ball for results in the luxury sector on Wednesday with strong sales growth driven particularly by the rebound in China, however reported a slowdown in demand in the United States. .
The frequentation of stores in the United States continues to increase, indicated for his part the financial director of Hermès.
“What we observed in the first quarter was an overall increase in traffic, and the trends that we observe at the beginning of April are still favorable with, again, very dynamic traffic,” Eric du Halgouët told journalists. .
“We obviously remain vigilant on macro trends but (…) we have not noted any downturn for the moment with a local clientele which remains loyal and sustained traffic”, he added.
Hermès also confirmed its medium-term outlook, namely an “ambitious objective of increasing sales at constant exchange rates”, despite the economic, geopolitical and monetary uncertainties in the world.
(Mimosa Spencer report, written by Kate Entringer, edited by Matthieu Protard and Blandine Hénault)