Bulgari Group said Wednesday that fourth quarter 2010 sales increased 20.5 percent at current exchange rates to 357.8 million euro ($491.3 million) at current exchange rates (Sales increased 11.4% at comparable rates).
“The fourth quarter results certify a definitive recovery in all geographical areas and product categories,” the Italian luxury jewelry house said in a statement. “An excellent performance by jewelry was thus accompanied by highly positive accessory and perfume sales results, whilst with regard to watches the Serpenti, Bulgari Roth and Bulgari Genta collections, launched during the quarter, had an excellent start.”
Strong sales gains were reported in all regions, with the strongest growth in Asia.
By product category, jewelry sales grew by 28.3 percent to 166.7 million euro ($229 million) for the period, the company said. Excluding the significant but volatile contribution of the high jewelry segment, the category increased by 36 percent
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Watch sales grew by 7 percent for the period to 73.5 million euro ($101 million), after three weak quarters. Its accessories business posted a 31.4 percent uptick and perfumes also did very well, with a 14.1 percent rise.
By region, the fourth quarter saw U.S. increase by 10.3 percent. Sales in Europe rose 8.4 percent and Middle East rose by 13.9 percent.
The company noted the “spectacular” sales gain in Asia at 37.7 percent, including the “progressively improved” performance in Japan, up 24.9 percent. Sales were up 47.3 percent in greater China. The remaining areas of Asia grew by 48 percent.
“These sales results are highly satisfactory overall, and represent a record fourth-quarter turnover in the history of the company, thus confirming the recovery we had already noted in the previous quarters, said Francesco Trapani, Bulgari Group CEO. “The performance of watches, in particular, demonstrates that with the expansion and the upgrading in our offer we are going in the right direction. In the core business of jewelry, the innovation and design of the Bulgari brand have achieved excellent performance levels both in the basic and high-end segments, in spite of the challenging comparison bases. Lastly, perfumes and accessories prove once again that the diversification strategy aimed at competing at the highest levels in the market is winning. In conclusion, these data are definitely a good starting point for the months to come, and induce me to a cautious optimism.”