Richemont Shares Slip After It Reports Coronavirus-Driven Sales Decline

   By Cecilia Butini 
 

Shares in Compagnie Financiere Richemont SA fell Thursday after the company said its fiscal first-quarter sales plunged due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Swiss luxury-goods group said sales for the quarter ended June 30 fell 47% to 1.99 billion euros ($2.27 billion) from EUR3.74 billion a year before.

At 1000 GMT, shares were trading 5.3% lower at CHF60.85.

"The lockdowns on the back of the Covid-19 pandemic are causing luxury-goods companies to record the worst quarterly results in their history," Bernstein said after Richemont's numbers were release, also citing sales declines at peer companies Burberry Group PLC and Swatch Group AG earlier this week.

Sales at Richemont, which makes Cartier and Piaget watches, declined in all regions except China, where they grew 49% in the quarter compared with the previous year.

Citi analysts downplayed that bright spot, however. Triple-digit growth in online spending in China "largely reflected repatriation of tourist demand, so that the Chinese cluster was down double-digit in our estimates in the period," Citi said.

The group's jewelry division and online sales, excluding online distributors, had better results than its other areas, the company said.

Online sales contributed 8% to total sales, up from 2% the year prior, according to the company.

Write to Cecilia Butini at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 16, 2020 06:25 ET (10:25 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.