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Shares in Richemont, the Swiss luxury goods group chaired by Johann Rupert, jumped more than 8% on Friday morning, adding over R150 billion in shareholder value, after it reported demand for luxury remained resilient despite tough economic conditions, allowing it to book record revenue and profits in its 2023 year.
Sales attained rose 19% and reached an all-time high of €20 billion (R425 billion) in the year to end-March, it said, with its final quarter getting a bump as sales in the Asia Pacific region resumed growth after the removal of travel and health restrictions in mainland China.
Richemont, the owner of brands such as Cartier, Mont Blanc and Van Cleef & Arpels, said its operating profits rose more than a third to about €5 billion, though profits were under pressure from a €3.4 billion non-cash write-down of luxury e-commerce platform Yoox-Net-A-Porter's (YNAP) net assets. In 2021, Richemont announced it would cede its control of YNAP. It said on Friday the transaction - which will give it a just under 50% stake and is still subject to various approvals - is expected to conclude by the end of the 2023 calendar year.
Richemont's net cash still rose by 25% to about €6.5 billion 2023, with the group upping its ordinary A share dividends by 11% to 2.5 Swiss francs, while declaring a special dividend of 1 Swiss francs, unchanged from 2022.
The company said on Friday sales were strong across geographies, but notably strong in Japan and Europe.
Sales growth in the Americas, which represents the Group’s second largest sales region, reached 27% for the year while in Europe, the overall 30% sales growth reflected robust demand in most markets, with the performance of France, Italy and Switzerland particularly noteworthy, it said.
Japan reported the strongest regional performance for the year with sales up by 45%, driven by solid domestic sales and the progressive return of inbound tourism.
Shares in Richemont were up almost 8% to R3 414.04, having almost doubled over the past one year. Click here for details of Richemont's shares as well as other info.
