Demand for luxury goods boosts sales at Hermes
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Hermes reports higher profits after an ‘exceptional’ year thanks to Chinese customers who gobble up its leather goods
Hermes has posted higher profits after an “exceptional” year thanks to Chinese customers picking up its leather goods.
High Covid infection levels hammered demand for quality goods in China late last year.
But Axel Dumas, boss of the French luxury design house, said “a strong desirability” had remained in China despite the wave of infection.
Chic: the largest division of leather goods and saddlers sells the Birkin bag (photo)
Hermes posted “double-digit growth” in the country, including the fourth quarter, Dumas said.
Sales in the Asia-Pacific region, excluding Japan, rose 22 percent overall. Sales in the US increased by more than 40 percent.
The group’s total profit increased by 38 per cent to £3.03 billion on sales of £10.32 billion. The largest division, leather goods and saddlery that sells the Birkin bag, grew by a quarter during that period, also above expectations.
Despite a ‘zero Covid’ policy, Chinese shoppers were swayed by European designer goods with a cost-of-living crisis not felt as much in Asia as it was in Europe, said Danni Hewson, chief of financial analysis at AJ Bell.