LVMH sales and profit blaze new heights

The world's top luxury group LVMH said Tuesday that sales and profits jumped in the first half of the year despite the uncertain economic environment.

While China has driven growth in the luxury sector in recent years, the group whose brands include Louis Vuitton, Bulgari, Givenchy and TAG Heuer said that a sharp rebound in Europe and the United States helped propel gains.

Net profits for January through June came in at 6.5 billion euros ($6.6 billion), a 23-percent jump from the "record" earnings in same period last year.

Sales rose 28 percent to 36.7 billion euros.

While many companies have seen their margins squeezed by inflation, LVMH boosted its by 1.3 points to 27.9 percent of revenue.

The company did not provide a geographic breakdown of sales, but noted that Asia "saw a lower level of growth due to the new health restrictions in China".

Last year the Asian region excluding Japan was LVMH's biggest by sales, accounting for 35 percent of the total.

Chief financial officer Jean Jacques Guiony said in a conference call that LVMH was taking a wait-and-see approach to China, but was "confident of a return in demand" once the Covid-19 pandemic is over.

Fashion and leather goods, which account for nearly half of LVMH's sales, outperformed other divisions with 31-percent growth to 18.1 billion euros.