LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton brought in just upwards of $38 billion in revenue for the first nine months of 2018, the luxury goods super-group revealed on Tuesday. As a whole, the Paris-based owner of Louis Vuitton, Dior, Givenchy, and Celine, among other fashion and non-fashion brands, recorded a 11 percent organic increase in revenue compared to the same period in 2017. Its Fashion & Leather goods division posted the most significant growth, up a whopping 20 percent in reported growth (14 organic) compared to the same period last year, followed by its Perfume & Cosmetics and Watches & Jewelry categories, both of which were up 8 percent in terms of reported growth.
According to a release from LVMH, “Louis Vuitton continues to be driven by the success of its iconic leather goods lines and by exceptional creativity in all its businesses. Ready-to-wear and shoes, in particular, experienced strong momentum with an excellent reception of the last two fashion shows of Womenswear and Menswear.”
Moreover, the group notes that “a new communication for Louis Vuitton perfumes was unveiled, marking the launch of the brand’s latest perfume creation. Christian Dior, consolidated since the second half of 2017, enjoyed an excellent performance. Celine made progress and began a new chapter in its history with the first runway show of Hedi Slimane, which was a great success and created enormous resonance. Fendi and Loro Piana continued to grow. The other brands continued to strengthen.”
LVMH pointed to “Sephora’s strong organic revenue growth, particularly in North America and Asia. The expansion and renovation of its distribution network is continuing with a new store concept in China and the first Sephora-branded store in Russia.” Sephora, along with Le Bon Marche, among other companies, fall under LVMH’s Selective Retailing category, which grew by a 2 percent reported and 8 percent organic.
And in terms of Perfumes & Cosmetics, the release spotlights Dior, which, per Bloomberg, was consolidated in LVMH’s financials for the first time since being swallowed up by LVMH last year, stating that “Parfums Christian Dior continued its remarkable progress, driven by the launch of its new perfume Joy and the exceptional worldwide success of Sauvage and its other iconic perfumes, J’adore and Miss Dior. Rouge Dior lipstick also contributed to the performance of the House.”
Luxury investors have been bearish over the past several months amid worries about how the U.S./China trade war will impact luxury brands’ operations paired with a fluctuating yuan and speculation about a customs crackdown on undeclared imports, but a spokesman for Deutsche Bank told MarketWatch that demand that it is seeing “no evidence that trends have changed materially,” though it says there could be a slight softening of growth rates.
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