Asian luxury demand underpins Richemont Q3 sales

Sales growth at Richemont held up in the company's third quarter, easing fears the sector might be in for a marked slowdown this year and allowing the Swiss luxury goods group to confirm its profit goal for the year.

The maker of Cartier jewellery and IWC watches said on Monday that sales rose 24 per cent at constant exchange rates between October and December, beating forecasts for a 20 per cent rise in a Reuters poll.

Buoyant Asian demand for pricey timepieces and Chinese tourists storming Europe's luxury boutiques have so far helped the industry sail relatively unscathed through recent economic turmoil.

"The group's activities over the past nine months enable us to reconfirm our expectations that operating profit for the full year will be significantly higher than last year," Executive Chairman Johann Rupert said in a statement.

Sales in the Asia-Pacific region rose 36 per cent between October and December, compared with a 42 per cent progression in the first half.

Sales growth in Europe slowed to 15 per cent from 17 per cent in the first half, but growth in the Americas region accelerated to 24 per cent from 17 per cent.

"A strong set of figures, particularly given the weaker statement from Tiffany last week," Kepler CM analyst Jon Cox said.

"Growth is still above 20 per cent driven by Asia pacific obviously but the biggest surprise is obviously the ability of tourists to buoy demand in Europe while the Americas is much better than expected," he said.

US jeweller Tiffany said last week Christmas sales weakened markedly and lowered its full-year profit forecast.