Swatch Group said on Thursday it expected a recovery in the second half of 2016 after net profit plummeted 52 percent to 263 million Swiss francs ($267.19 million) in the first half as lower sales and the absence of cost-saving measures hit the world's biggest watchmaker's bottom line.
"Swatch Group anticipates clear growth in local currency in the second half of the year compared with the weaker second half of 2015, and thus an annual result closer or equivalent to the previous year," it said.
The Swiss maker of Omega and Tissot watches shocked markets with a profit warning last week, sending its shares down sharply, but said it would hold on to staff, maintain investments and only do selective price increases.
The watchmaker had warned investors that profit would at least halve after sales fell in Hong Kong and Europe.