Financials

Richemont’s Q1 Jewelry Sales in the Americas Fall Flat

FinancialsJul 18, 2023

Richemont’s Q1 Jewelry Sales in the Americas Fall Flat

The owner of Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels also said online-only retailers are facing a “globally challenging environment.”

Cartier Baignoire diamond pavé
The diamond pavé version of the Cartier “Baignoire," a watch from the early 1900s the brand recreated and released at Watches & Wonders Geneva earlier this year. Cartier parent company Richemont reported a 24 percent increase in sales among its jewelry brands in the first quarter.
Geneva, Switzerland—While Richemont had a strong first quarter overall, the luxury conglomerate reported a slowdown in jewelry sales in the Americas in an environment it described as “muted.”  

Richemont said Monday that its jewelry brands—Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, and Buccellati—posted the strongest Q1 sales growth among its three business units, with revenues climbing 24 percent year-over-year (at constant exchange rates) to €3.6 billion ($4.05 billion).   

It said sales increased across all channels (wholesale, retail, and online retail) and regions except the Americas where they were “broadly flat,” though it did note that American tourists contributed to growth in sales in Europe in Q1.  

The company’s watch brands, meanwhile, saw Q1 sales increase 10 percent to €1.06 billion ($1.19  billion). 

Richemont said timepiece sales increased in most regions and for most of the eight brands it has in its Specialist Watchmakers unit. A. Lange & Söhne, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Piaget and Vacheron Constantin all had a particularly outstanding quarter, it noted.  

The businesses Richemont classifies as “other,” which includes Watchfinder & Co., posted a 6 percent increase in sales to €662 million ($744.1 million). The unit posted sales growth across all its brands and almost all regions, including in the Americas.  
 
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Sales fell 8 percent for Yoox Net-a Porter, which Richemont now classifies as “discontinued operations” after announcing plans to offload most of its stake in the online luxury business last summer. 

Richemont noted in its Q1 results that online-only retailers are facing a “globally challenging environment.”  

Overall, Richemont posted 19 percent year-over-year growth with sales totaling €5.32 billion ($5.98 billion) in the first quarter ended June 30.  

It said a strong rebound in the Asia-Pacific region, where the lifting of COVID restrictions and soft comps fueled a 40 percent growth increase in revenue, offset its performance in the Americas, where sales slipped 2 percent on lower wholesale sales and strong year-over-year comps. 

Sales in the Middle East and Africa (+15 percent), Japan (+14 percent) and Europe (+11 percent) were up as well.  

Sales grew across all Richemont’s distribution channels as well, with revenue up 24 percent in retail stores, 2 percent for online retail, and 11 percent for its wholesale and royalty income segment. 

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