Sales at French luxury giant LVMH grew by 20% in the third quarter, fuelled by an appetite for high-end fashion from consumers eager to splash out following months of pandemic lockdowns.
LVMH, which sells a range of luxury products spanning Moët & Chandon champagne and Bulgari timepieces, said like-for-like sales, stripping out the effect of foreign exchange fluctuations, rose to €15.51 billion in the three months to September 2021.
Growth was roughly in line with an analyst consensus forecast for a 21% rise cited by Barclays, after a stellar second quarter which saw revenues surge by 84%.
Wine And Spirits
The company’s wine and spirits division recorded organic revenue growth of 30%, to €1.5 billion, in the first nine months of 2021 compared to the same period in 2020, and 10% compared to 2019.
Champagne volumes were up 7% compared to the first nine months of 2019, with particularly strong growth in the United States and Europe, which notably benefited over the summer from the reopening of restaurants and the gradual recovery of tourism.
Hennessy cognac reported a 4% increase in volumes compared to 2019 while being limited by supply constraints.
The category experienced a strong rebound in China and the United States.
The third quarter marked the integration for the first time of the prestigious Champagne Maison Armand de Brignac, in which LVMH has taken a 50% stake.
Outlook
LVMH is confident that it will retain its current growth rate and is counting on the dynamic nature of its brands and the talent of its teams to consolidate its global leadership position in luxury goods in 2021.
Surging sales at Louis Vuitton and Dior powered a strong rebound at French luxury group LVMH in the first part of 2021, as thriving demand in Asia and the United States offset the drag from new coronavirus lockdowns in much of Europe.
