Luxury conglomerate Richemont reported a 6% increase in sales at actual exchange rates (4% at constant rates) for the three month period ended December 31, 2019 (Q3 FY 2019) driven by a robust performance from its Jewellery Maisons and strong growth across Europe and the Americas.

Total sales for the quarter stood at € 4,156 mn (Q3 2018: € 3,915 mn), the company said adding that there was a 10% increase in European sales, while the Americas posted a 8% rise across all business areas. Richemont said that Asia Pacific witnessed low-single digit growth, with strong double digit increases in China and Korea more than offsetting a marked contraction in Hong Kong SAR, China, and a contraction of sales in Japan too.

The Company said that there was high-single digit progression in retail and online retail sales, outperforming muted wholesale sales growth and that there were sales increases across most business areas, all at actual exchange rates.

Noting that the 6% sales progression at Jewellery Maisons to € 2,162 mn (Q3 2018: € 1,985 mn) was broad-based, Richemont said it was driven by jewellery and watches across collections. The performance of Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels and Buccellati was particularly noteworthy given the negative impact of Hong Kong SAR, China. Sales grew in all regions except Japan, the statement noted. The Specialist Watchmakers registered modest sales growth, notwithstanding a challenging situation in Hong Kong SAR, China, with higher sales in directly operated boutiques and wholesale sales broadly in line with the prior year period, Richemont said.

At the Online Distributors, the Company reported, an increasingly competitive pricing environment in online retail and disruption caused by storm damage to MR PORTER’s Landriano warehouse facilities limited sales growth to 2%. The Group’s other businesses recorded a 3% decline in sales, reflecting challenging trading conditions for the Fashion & Accessories Maisons with the exception of Peter Millar which continued to show strong momentum in the US. 

The Group’s net cash position at 31 December 2019 amounted to € 2.4 billion (2018: € 2.3 billion).