LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton annual watches and jewelry sales grew by 29 percent in 2010 to 985 million euros ($1.34 billion) and profit from recurring operations doubled. Watch and jewelry brands gained market share across all regions.
For its 150th anniversary, TAG Heuer successfully launched a new watch movement and enhanced its presence in Asia, the company said. Hublot benefited from the growing success of the Big Bang and King Power collections, continued to increase its high-end offering and integrated its workshop of high-end watch making. Zenith found a new strong momentum with its new collections and the El Primero movement. The jewelry brands Chaumet, De Beers and Fred registered solid revenue growth in their European and Asian store networks.
Overall, the world’s leading luxury products group reported a 19 percent increase in revenue in 2010 to 20.3 billion euros ($27.67 billion), exceeding the 20 billion euro mark for the first time. All business groups saw excellent momentum in Europe, Asia and the United States. Louis Vuitton, in particular, once again recorded double-digit revenue growth during the year.
Revenue increased by 20 percent in the fourth quarter with organic growth rising 13 percent, the luxury group said February 4. Profit from recurring operations increased by 29 percent to 4.32 billion euros ($5.88 billion). The current operating margin improved by 1.6 percentage points to reach 21.3 percent in 2010 with all businesses contributing to this performance. Group share of net profit was 3.03 billion euros ($4.12 billion).
“2010 was a great vintage for LVMH,” said Bernard Arnault, LVMH chairman and CEO. “The quality of our products, the originality of our brands and the talent of our teams bolstered by the economic recovery allowed us once again to gain market share throughout the world. In 2011, LVMH intends to further strengthen its global leadership position in high quality products by relying on its sound long term strategy.”