“For once, I’m not going to announce record results,” said LVMH chairman and CEO Bernard Arnault on Tuesday night in the auditorium of the LVMH headquarters located on 22 Avenue Montaigne. “However, the year was solid and I am quite confident, even very confident for the coming year. 2025 gets off to a good start.”
Last year marked a significant slowdown for the luxury industry, following a post-pandemic spending surge, and LVMH, the biggest luxury conglomerate, wasn’t spared. The company’s earnings on Tuesday showed signs of stabilisation.
LVMH reported €84.7 billion in annual turnover in 2024, down 1 per cent from 2023, when annual sales were €86.15 billion. Sales in the fourth quarter grew 1 per cent on an organic basis to around €23.95 billion. By region, sales were up everywhere except Asia, where the once bullish Chinese consumer is still showing signs of low confidence. Asia was down 10 per cent, while the United States was up 3 per cent, Europe up 4 per cent and Japan up 8 per cent.
In the fourth quarter, the fashion and leather goods division declined 1 per cent to €11.26 billion on an organic basis, beating consensus expectations of -3 per cent — though Bernstein analyst Luca Solca wrote in a note that Richemont’s recent earnings upgraded expectations that LVMH failed to match. Earlier this month, Richemont surprised the market by announcing a 10 per cent sales increase year-on-year for fiscal Q3, which sent Richemont and other luxury stocks up. LVMH may not have rebounded in the double digits, still “the worst is behind us”, Solca said after the LVMH conference, noting the stability of LVMH’s performance quarter-on-quarter.
Perfumes and cosmetics sales were up 2 per cent, while watches and jewellery sales rose 3 per cent for the quarter. LVMH typically doesn’t break out revenue per brand, but Arnault noted that Tiffany sales rose 9 per cent in the fourth quarter, and that Tiffany, as well as Louis Vuitton, showed strong momentum with double-digit growth in January. Selective retailing was up 7 per cent turbocharged by Sephora, while DFS was “difficult”, as Arnault put it. Wine and spirits were down 8 per cent. “Demand [for wine and spirits] is normalising; champagne has been relatively preserved, but cognac and spirits had a steeper decline, and we’re confident that within two years, we’ll be able to turn things around, especially as there’s a new team,” he said, praising Jean-Jacques Guiony and Alexandre Arnault, who were appointed to lead the division starting 1 February. “Let’s give them two years to show what they can do. I am pretty confident.”
When asked by an analyst about Dior’s performance, Arnault noted that among couture houses, Dior had the best performance of 2024. “We’re lucky to have the best designers in the group, and to keep them for a long time. It’s important, we have a relationship with them that goes far beyond a classic business relationship that one can see in some houses. Continuity is essential. Changes that are too rapid in these professions are difficult.” Pressed by reporters to comment on rumours about upcoming creative changes at Loewe and Dior, he said: “You’re talking about hypotheses, there’s been no announcement.”
Last week, Arnault, his wife Hélène Mercier Arnault and two of his children, Delphine and Alexandre Arnault, attended the inauguration of President Donald Trump. “Who would refuse an invitation from the President of the United States to attend his inauguration? Besides, I’ve had a long-standing relationship with him,” he told reporters, noting “the wind of optimism in that country”. He added there is “a different atmosphere in France, where unfortunately we tend to tax companies that are good citizens”.
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