By John Revill
ZURICH, July 15 (Reuters) – Cartier jewellery owner Richemont reported better-than expected results for its first quarter on Wednesday, helped by booming growth in Asia and the Americas.
The company, which also owns Swiss watch brands Piaget and IWC, said its sales rose by 20% when measured in constant currencies to €6.33 billion ($7.24 billion) in the three months to the end of June.
The figure beat analyst forecasts for €5.90 billion in a consensus compiled by Visible Alpha.
The growth was driven by the company’s jewellery business, which also includes Van Cleef & Arpels, Buccellati and Vhernier, where sales rose by 24%, much better than the 11.5% rate expected by analysts.
Specialist watchmakers also increased their sales by 8% during the period.
Regionally, Richemont continued to show strong growth in the Americas and Asia regions during the April to June period.
Sales in the Americas region increased by 27% up from the 18% growth rate in the previous three months, while the Asia/Pacific sales – which include China – increased by 21% compared with a growth rate of 14% previously.
($1 = 0.8744 euros)
(Reporting by John Revill, editing by Kirsti Knolle)
