Hermès sales beat expectations on strong Asian demand
Few signs trade tensions have had an impact on demand from Chinese consumers
Hermès said on Tuesday that its sales beat market expectations in the second quarter, as the French luxury group continued to be boosted by Asian demand for its goods and global trade tensions showed little sign of having an impact.
Stripping out foreign exchange fluctuations, the maker of Birkin and Kelly handbags and silk scarves said that sales grew 12.3 per cent to €1.67bn in the three months between April and June. This was ahead of the 11.6 per cent sales growth recorded in the first quarter.
Overall Hermès sales reached €3.28bn in the first half of the year, slightly ahead of the €3.24bn analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg.
Eric du Halgouët, the group’s chief financial officer, said on a call with reporters that Hermès got off to a “very strong start to the year,” with a continuation of trends from the first quarter to the second. All of this was despite a high comparison basis with the previous year.
During the first half Hermès recorded growth across all regions and business lines, led by Asia (ex-Japan), which continued its strong growth trajectory and was up 18 per cent at comparable exchange rates.
Hermès said that it was boosted by several new store openings and renovations in recent months in Asia. So far the French group, like its luxury rivals LVMH and Kering who are due to report this results this week, hasn’t seen a slowdown in Chinese demand, which investors fear may be hit by trade tensions with the US.
Elsewhere Hermès said that Japan and America both gained 10 per cent during the first six months of the year, while Europe (ex-France) was up 9 per cent and its home market of France, where anti-government gilets jaunes protests dragged on sales earlier in the year, gained 4 per cent.