Sales at Birkin bag maker Hermes grew by 31%. This has beaten the market expectations, even though, the rebound from the fallout of the pandemic slowed down. Analysts had expected comparable revenues at the French luxury group. This is according to a consensus cited by UBS. Revenues at the end of the quarter stood at 2.37 billion euros, as per the company.
Luxury goods companies have recovered sharply from the fallout of the health emergency. However, shopping by travelling tourists is a key source of revenue for the sector. This remains muted. The growth has been weighed on because of the Covid resurgence. Finance chief Eric du Halgouët shrugged off concerns about a slowdown in China. He said that store traffic, the percentage of people leaving its shops with a purchase and the average sum spent in its stores were all on the rise in the past quarter. The group had seen no impact so far from comments by Chinese leaders.
This also indicates the plans to reduce wealth gaps in the country, such as property taxes. They have observed in China an acceleration of store traffic. This is an improvement in conversion rates and an increase in average baskets. This new clientele is brought, in part, by online sales. And that have contributed strongly to drawing this new clientele into their stores.
