Richemont FY net profit drops 46% to €1.21bn

Luxury goods maker Richemont on Friday reported a 46% slide in net profit to €1.21bn in the year to March partly due to the one-off gain on the merger of Net-A-Porter with Yoox in 2015. Excluding this exceptional item, net profit would have dropped 24%, the maker of Cartier watches said in a statement.

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Total sales for the period under review dropped 4% to €10.64bn on both an actual and constant currency basis.

Excluding exceptional initiatives to improve inventory at multi-brand retail partners and optimise certain retail and wholesale locations, the decline in sales would have been contained to 2% at constant exchange rates, the company added.

Europe accounted for 29% of the overall sales, with Asia-Pacific contributing 37% and the Americas 17%. Sales of jewellery, leather goods and writing instruments grew, while watch sales declined, in part due to the buy-back initiative.

The Swiss company that is listed on the JSE increased its net cash position by €452m to €5.8bn. The proposed dividend was Sf1.80, which was up 6% on the year-earlier period.

Source: BDpro