Richemont shares climb 6% on record full-year sales, new CEO

Shares of Swiss luxury group Richemont climbed as much as 6.3% Friday after the company reported record full-year sales, even as Asia-Pacific spending waned.

The Cartier owner said group sales rose 3% at actual exchange rates to an all-time high of 20.6 billion euros, or $22.38 billion, in the financial year ending in March, despite a weakening outlook for luxury brands.

Shares pared gains slightly after market open to trade up 4.9% by 10:00 a.m. London time.

Fiscal fourth-quarter sales fell 1% to 4.8 billion euros, or $5.21 billion, at actual rates, driven by a slowdown in Asia-Pacific.

“We experienced a softening of sales in the fourth quarter in Asia Pacific against challenging comparatives, which was more than offset by higher growth in all the other regions. As we predicted, a sustainable rebound in Chinese demand would take some time,” chairman Johann Rupert said in a statement.

In a separate statement, the company announced Nicolas Bos, CEO of Van Cleef & Arpels, as its new group CEO, effective June 1.

The luxury sector has been under pressure since late 2023, as tough macroeconomic and geopolitical conditions have weighed on consumer spending, particularly in China.

Other luxury stocks LVMH, Kering and Christian Dior were seen trading lower Friday morning.

Kering, one of the biggest casualties of the luxury slowdown, warned in April that it expects a sharp downturn in first-half profits amid waning demand for its Gucci brand among once big-spending Asia-Pacific shoppers.