Profits jump at Richemont beats expectations

Richemont, the owner of the website Net-a-Porter and jewellery brands Cartier and Jaeger-LeCoultre, has allayed fears of a slowdown in the luxury goods sector with full-year net profits up 30 per cent, well above expectations.

But the Swiss-based group, which also owns the designer brand Chloé and Alfred Dunhill, said the figures were boosted by favourable currency exchange rates, such as the dollar's strength against the euro.

The jump in profit was ahead of the 25 per cent that analysts had forecast. The unscheduled statement, ahead of its full-year results on 16 May, revealed that underlying sales were up 14 per cent.

Richemont is exposed to the luxury watch sector, where there are concerns that the industry is starting to suffer. The French brand Hermès said on Monday that its watch sales were hit by a fall in demand in China.