Richemont Sales Rise 2% in Q3

Richemont's Cartier reported good growth in both retail and wholesale sales

Swiss luxury group Richemont, whose brands include Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels, announced Monday that its sales rose 2 percent in the third quarter at actual exchange rates, or 7 percent at constant exchange rates, to €1.58 billion ($2.29 billion) from €1.55 billion ($2.22 billion) a year earlier.

The rise was aided by a 5 percent increase in jewelry sales and a 3 percent increase for specialist watch sales during the three-month period ended December 31.

"The improvement in trading is welcome in the context of a generally difficult economic environment, although the figures should be viewed against the weak comparative figures of the same period in 2008," Richemont stated in its report.

The Asia-Pacific region was the strongest performer for the company, posting a 25 percent rise in sales at actual exchange rates and a 34 percent rise at constant rates. The Americas reported a sales increase of 8 percent at constant rates, but decreased 2 percent at actual rates.

The weaker regions for sales included the European markets, which decreased by 4 percent at actual rates and 2 percent at constant rates. Japan reported a 12 percent decrease in the period at actual rates and 11 percent at constant rates.

To determine sales at constant exchange rates, average currency exchange rates for the year ended March 21, 2009 are used to convert local currency sales into euros for the three-month period, nine-month period and other comparative figures.