LVMH Reports Revenue Growth of 16% in Q1 2019; Watches and Jewelry Up 9%
Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton (LVMH) shares hit record highs after announcing strong earnings on April 11. In the first quarter of 2019, LVMH’s revenue rose 16 percent to 12.5 billion euros ($14 billion). Revenues were up 11 percent on an organic basis, which takes into account mergers, acquisitions, and currency fluctuations. Both numbers surpassed analyst forecasts.
The strong quarter was led by 20 percent growth in LVMH’s largest category, Fashion & Leather Goods. LVMH said this growth was led by Louis Vuitton itself, pointing to its men’s and women’s fashion shows as particular high points.
Of course, we here at Rescapement care about watches, and LVMH has a nice collection of watch brands (it’s not Richemont, but still). And while it’s actually the smallest of LVMH’s business divisions, they still hold a number of great brands: Bulgrai, Chaumet, Hublot, TAG Heuer, and Zenith.
LVMH’s Watches & Jewelry group produced organic revenue growth of just 4 percent, which the conglomerate says was driven by jewelry. This means strong performance from Bulgari, including its iconic Serpenti line and its new Fiorever collection. And while there won’t be a sales impact from the new products released at Baselworld 2019 for a few more quarters, LVMH seems to think its offerings were well received. As a reminder, some highlights included the Hublot Classic Fusion Ferrari (controversial), Bulgari Octo Finissimo Chronograph GMT (great watch), TAG Heuer’s connected watches (just no), and the Zenith Defy Inventor (sexy).
For more, see LVMH’s release