Richemont posts strong sales growth helped by Asia

• Cartier maker Richemont saw sales of its watches and jewellery rise 10 percent in the five months to Aug. 31, helped by strong demand in Asia Pacific and the Americas.
• Swiss watchmakers have seen sales rebound strongly after a severe downturn, but some investors now fear Chinese luxury demand could have peaked and rising trade tensions could take their toll.

Shoppers line up to enter a Cartier store, a unit of Cie. Financiere Richemont SA, on Canton Road in the Tsim Sha Tsui area of Hong Kong.

Billy H.C. Kwok | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Cartier maker Richemont said sales of its watches and jewellery rose 10 percent in the five months to Aug. 31, helped by strong demand in Asia Pacific and the Americas.

Swiss watchmakers have seen sales rebound strongly after a severe downturn, but some investors now fear Chinese luxury demand could have peaked and rising trade tensions could take their toll.

"Hong Kong, Korea and Macau all generated double digit increases while China showed good growth," the world's second biggest luxury goods group said in a statement released ahead of its annual general meeting in Geneva. It did not provide an outlook for the rest of the year.

Sales in constant currency rose 10 percent in the period, while sales at actual exchange rates were up 7 percent, Richemont said, which on Monday also appointed Jerome Lambert as chief executive. 

Including recently acquired Yoox Net-a-Porter (YNAP) and Watchfinder.co.uk, sales were up 25 percent at constant exchange rates and 22 percent at actual rates.