*European Luxury Goods: July Swiss watch exports: Overall -9.3%, high end -7.5%
Swiss watch exports for July plunged by -9.3% y/y (vs. June +3.3%) due to significant declines in Asian markets - the steepest since November 2009. Despite the main Asian markets reporting sluggish growth and continued weak performance in Hong Kong and China as a result of high exports last year, Europe continues to gather momentum and is still being upheld by strong tourism spend into the region as shown by Global Blue data. Japan declined moderately whilst Korea continues to be impacted by the MERS outbreak. All price segments experienced a negative trend in the month, with the 200-500 CHF category worst affected and down -14.5% in value terms. We continue to believe in the long- term growth of Swiss watches but accept the short-term prospects are difficult.