Cartier Owner Sees Sales Soar

RAPAPORT... Richemont's jewelry brands continued their recovery in the first fiscal half as shoppers returned in key markets.Jewelry sales across the group jumped 69% year on year to EUR 3.8 billion ($4.35 billion) for the six months ending September 30, the luxury giant reported Friday.Revenue from the company's jewelry maisons - Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, and Buccellati - rose 67% to EUR 5.1 billion ($5.83 billion), including sales of watches and other items. Sales increased 36% compared with the same period of 2019.Europe and the Americas contributed the strongest growth for the segment, while Asia Pacific also had solid figures, the company said. "In the last six months, we've seen progressive comeback [in] high jewelry, with still not many international events but more and more regional or local events and opportunities to wear it," explained Nicolas Bos, CEO of Van Cleef & Arpels, in a conference call for investors. Sales of expensive jewelry suffered the most during the peak 2020 shutdown period because of the lack of gatherings, Bos noted. More affordable categories showed resilience, the executive said.Operating profit at the jewelry maisons more than doubled to EUR 1.93 billion ($2.21 billion) from EUR 922 million ($1.06 billion) a year earlier. In addition to the sales rise, the company attributed the stronger profitability to effective media spending, better utilization of manufacturing facilities, and strong cost controls.Group revenue leaped 63% year on year to EUR 8.91 billion ($10.19 billion). Sales gained 20% versus 2019.Image: A Cartier store in San Francisco, California, in August 2021. (Shutterstock)