Cartier owner Richemont beats Q4 sales forecast despite Middle East slide

The ‌Swiss-based owner of a host ‌of several luxury brands, including watchmakers IWC, Jaeger-LeCoultre and Piaget, saw sales rise 13% ⁠in ​constant ⁠currencies to €5.40 billion ($6.27 billion) in the three months ⁠to the end of March. The figure ​beat analyst forecasts for 5.30 billion ⁠euros in a consensus of analysts gathered ⁠by ​Visible Alpha.

Cartier-owner ​Richemont reported better ​than expected ‌fourth-quarter revenue ​on Friday, as a fall in Middle ‌East sales was offset by strong demand in Japan and the United States. The ‌Swiss-based owner of a host ‌of several luxury brands, including watchmakers IWC, Jaeger-LeCoultre and Piaget, saw sales rise 13% ⁠in ​constant ⁠currencies to €5.40 billion ($6.27 billion) in the three months ⁠to the end of March.

The figure ​beat analyst forecasts for 5.30 billion ⁠euros in a consensus of analysts gathered ⁠by ​Visible Alpha. Without excluding currency swings, quarterly sales were up 4%%, ⁠Richemont said, a smaller increase mainly due ⁠to ⁠the euro's strength versus other currencies.

($1 = 0.8610 euros)