Hermes leads luxury pack with strong Christmas sales

Photo

Credit: Reuters

Quotes

   

Fri Feb 5, 2010 11:46am GMT

* 2009 sales up 4.1 pct at constant currencies

* Q4 sales up 11 pct at constant fx, 8.5 pct reported

* 2009 wholesale revenues down 17 pct at constant fx

*

(Adds details)

PARIS, Feb 5 (Reuters) - French luxury group Hermes (HRMS.PA) on Friday raised its own profit expectations for 2009 after posting forecast-beating full-year sales on the back of strong Christmas trading.

The world's second biggest luxury goods maker after LVMH LVHM.PA expects operating profit to show a slight increase against 2008 while previously it expected a small drop.

Net profit should be about the same as it was last year, it added.

The maker of silk scarves and 20,000-euro leather bags posted a 4.1 percent rise in full-year sales at constant currencies to 1.91 billion euros ($2.65 billion).

In comparison, analysts estimated global luxury sales last year to have dropped 8 percent.

The French group originally expected relatively flat sales for the year, stripping out the impact of currencies.

The figures are likely to cement the view that Hermes is weathering the downturn much better than its peers due in part to the strength of its brand, which consumer regard as a safer investment than younger fashion brands.

Hermes's resilient numbers come after LVMH on Thursday posted a 1 percent rise in like-for-like fourth quarter sales and a smaller drop in 2009 operating profit, citing signs of improvement in watches, spirits and champagne. [nLDE61112S]

($1=.7207 Euro)

(Reporting by Astrid Wendlandt; Editing by Hans Peters)

((astrid.wendlandt@reuters.com;+331 4949 5440; Reuters Messaging : astrid.wendlandt.reuters.com@reuters.net)) Keywords: HERMES/

(C) Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution ofReuters content, including by caching, framing or similar means, is expresslyprohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters and the Reuterssphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group ofcompanies around the world.nLDE6132UA

Comments (0)
This discussion is now closed. We welcome comments on our articles for a limited period after their publication.