Hermès swept aside uncertainties in the luxury market by announcing sales were up in the fourth quarter of 2022 by an impressive 23 per cent year-on-year at constant exchange rates to €3 billion. The Q4 performance, on top of strong full-year results, represents “a very solid beat to consensus”, according to Luca Solca, senior analyst at consultancy Bernstein. Growth in Q4 was driven by the Americas (up 40.8 per cent) and Asia Pacific, excluding Japan (up 24.7 per cent). Hermès has outperformed its competitors. LVMH posted a 10 per cent growth for its fashion and leather goods division in the fourth quarter, while Kering sales in the same period fell by 7 per cent (with Gucci down 14 per cent, citing a sharp drop in China). Pressed by analysts to explain the impressive news from China, compared to other brands in luxury sector, Axel Dumas, Hermès executive chairman, said on Friday in Paris: “I think we sometimes use a little too much catastrophe talk about the health situation in China to explain something else. We saw a wave starting from Beijing, and everyone got sick. What was an issue for us was not the number of customers in stores […]
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