Category: Richemont

Things are again moving at the Richemont Group, but this time in the right direction. After a few years of hesitation, with massive shake-ups at the head of most brands of the group and the resignation of Kern, and negative results (especially for the 2015-2017 period), the luxury powerhouse seems to be back on track. Today, two important announcements have been made by Richemont. First, a new CEO has been appointed. Second, at their annual general meeting, the Group reports a massive increase in sales (to be nuanced, though).

It is no breaking news to say that the industry had to face difficult times in 2015 and 2016. Business had been tough due to decreasing sales. The Richemont Group – the luxury powerhouse that owns Cartier, IWC, Montblanc or JLC – had also been affected by this situation – as reported by MONOCHROME here. Part of Richemont’s plan to help cleaning the situation was a massive buyback strategy, thus reducing stocks at retailers. What was unknown was the total amount of watches bought back by the group… Well, according to The Guardian, we’re talking about approximately half a billion Euro/Dollar.

Echoing its rivals in the luxury goods industry – including LVMH, Kering or Swatch Group – Swiss luxury powerhouse Richemont just announced growth for the year ended 31 March 2018. Sales increased by 3% at actual rates and by 8% at constant rates to EUR 10,979 million. The group reports strong performance in their retail network. Operating profit grew 5% at EUR 1 844 and the proposed dividend will be CHF 1.90 (a 6% increase compared to previous period).

Just days ahead of the launch of the 2018 edition of the SIHH – the Geneva-based watch fair where all the watchmaking brands of the Richemont Group present their novelties – the Richemont Group posts its financial results for the last quarter of 2017. The positive trend continues with an overall 7% increase in sales for the Group.

Since a year, the Richemont Group is operating a deep internal restructuration. First of all, the group announced the appointment of both Lambert as Head of Operations and Kern as Head of Watchmaking, Marketing and Digital, followed by the “Big Reshuffle” at the head of several Maisons. Yet, this plan completely shattered on July 14th, 2017 when Georges Kern announced its departure from the group, as joining Breitling as new CEO. With the need to take action, Richemont is today appointing a new chief, in the name of Jérôme Lambert, to the newly created role of Chief Operating Officer. Lambert will be responsible for all the Maisons other than Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels. In addition to that, Richemont also published its mid-year results, and they are quite reassuring.