Richemont announces further sales growth acceleration in Q3

Luxury group Richemont, owners of Cartier and Chloé, has revealed that Q3 sales substantially exceeded pre-pandemic levels, with sales up by 38% compared to the 2019 Christmas quarter.

For the three month period ending 31 December 2021, the group's total sales rose to €5.66 billion, up 32% compared to the prior year period, driven by double-digit increases in all regions, channels and business areas.

Swiss-based Richemont, which also controls Yoox Net-A-Porter, said its jewellery maisons, including Van Cleef & Arpels and Buccellati saw sales growth of 38% at constant exchange rates, and up 41% at actual exchange rates.

The fashion and accessories maisons saw sales growth of 37% at constant exchange rates, sustained by Chloé, Montblanc and Peter Millar.

Specialist watchmakers, including IWC Schaffhausen, Jaeger-LeCoultre and Piaget saw sales growth of 25% at constant exchange rates, up 29% at actual exchange rates.

The group added that retail generated the strongest channel performance, with sales up by 45%, followed by online retail sales up by 19% and wholesale sales up by 14%. Direct sales to consumers have further increased to reach 78% of group sales compared to 75% in the prior year period.

For the nine-month period ending 31 December 2021,  the group's sales increased by 50% at constant exchange rates and by 51% at actual exchange rates compared to the prior year period, a further improvement over the strong performance in the first six months of the financial year.

Richemont's net cash position at 31 December 2021 amounted to €4.9 billion, compared to € 2.9 billion in 2020.