Richemont Annual Sales Propelled By Watches

Annual sales by luxury goods maker Richemont rose 17 percent to 4.308 billion euros ($5.33 billion). Watch sales grew 22 percent, while jewelry sales increased 15 percent during the fiscal year ended March 2006.

Richemont's Jewellery Maisons division reported annual sales of 2.227 billion euro ($2.759 billion), up 15 percent (13 percent in constant currencies).

Cartier did especially well, particularly in the Americas, Japan, and the Asia-Pacific region. Van Cleef & Arpels saw very good growth in sales, albeit from a smaller base, with a particularly strong performance in Europe, the company said.

Richemont's watch division sales, including brands like IWC, Vacheron Constantin and Panerai, grew 22 percent (21 percent in constant currencies) to 1.063 billion euro ($1.317 billion).

“The sales trends seen during the first six months of the year and in the pre-Christmas period continued into the fourth quarter of the financial year,” Richemont said in a release this morning.

The Group said it benefited from good consumer demand stemming from the generally favorable economic environment seen in its principal markets.

By region, revenues grew most strongly in the Americas - 26 percent to 875 million euro ($1.084 billion), accounting for 20 percent of group sales. Sales in Europe, 42 percent of total group sales, increased 15 percent to 1.811 billion euro ($2.244 billion).