Lvmh soared to +28%

Strong fashion houses and recovering volumes in champagnes kept Lvmh running. The company recorded «an excellent first half in a still disrupted environment». Thanks to a second-quarter run (+27%) against a particularly high comparison base due to a weak euro, the luxury giant posted revenues of 36.7 billion euros in the first half of the year, up by 28% from the same period in 2021.

Organic revenue growth was 21%. In the six months, ebit increased by 34% to 10.2 billion euros, while operating margin reached 27.9%, up by 1.3 points. The group's share of net income amounted to 6.53 billion euros (+23%), while operating free cash flow amounted to more than 4 billion euros. «Price increases around 3-7% affected only some of our brands and were mainly concentrated in the first quarter», cfo Jean-Jacques Guiony specified during the budget presentation.

A sharp increase in sales was registered in Europe and in the US if compared to the beginning of the year, but Asia registered a lower level of development due to mainland China’s new sanitary restrictions. However, it was balanced by the Japanese market’s recovery. All the group’s business segments recorded double-digit organic growth, with an exceptional upsurge in champagnes that increased the wines & spirits division by 23% to 3.32 billion euros.

The most significative performance, however, is still the one recorded by the fashion & leather goods division (+31%) which — thanks to Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, Fendi, Celine, Loro Piana and Loewe, which earned market stocks in every sector and reached new profit records — has generated 18.1 billion euros. Skincare and perfumes are rapidly growing as well, with Sephora on a steady recovery. The creative surge of watchmaking and jewelry brands, in particular Tiffany & co., Bulgari and Tag Heuer, is also growing. «Bulgari creations are very appreciated, especially in the Asian market. Therefore, the brand’s performance was more affected than Tiffany, which has its solid market in the US», cfo Guiony explained. Hôtellerie activities are about to start again as well.

«Lvmh benefitted from an excellent start of the year», president and ceo Bernard Arnault stated. «It is the creativity and quality of our products, the excellence in their distribution and the rich heritage of our maisons powered by their history and their know-how that allow the group to excel globally. We face the second half of the year confidently but, given the current geopolitical and health situation, we will remain vigilant and count on our teams’ agility and talent to further strengthen our global leadership position in luxury goods in the 2022 financial year». (all rights reserved)