Kering up +27%, in line with the trend of the major luxury groups

The Kering group is up in the first quarter of 2022 and confirms the trend already verified in 2021. Indeed, the company headed by François-Henri Pinault had recorded a record turnover of 17.6 billion (+35% compared to the previous year). Despite the pandemic in China, which had a strong impact on the entire Asia-Pacific sector - an important basin for Kering - the company is on a roll in the rest of the world: Western Europe, the United States and Japan are leading the sales.

Contrary to expectations, it is not Gucci that is performing best, but the Yves Saint Laurent brand with an exceptional +43% increase in the first quarter (+37% on a comparable basis) and a turnover of 739 million euros. The flagship Gucci brand recorded an increase of 20% on a reported basis and +13% on a comparable basis. This performance, mainly due to the impact of the pandemic in China, disappointed analysts. According to Reuters, on Friday at 10:20am, the luxury group's shares lost 4.8% to 526.1 euros, following the publication of the results. The other good performance of the group comes from the Bottega Veneta brand, the iconic house of made in Italy recording a growth of +21% compared to 2021 (+16% on a comparable basis compared to 2021) for an estimated turnover of 396 million euros.

Another group that also recently published its figures, Hermès, is following the same positive trend. The luxury house revealed a +33% growth in the first quarter of 2022, for a total of more than 2.7 billion euros in sales. Hermès' success was particularly notable in the United States and Europe excluding France, where sales growth of +44% was reported for both trade areas. Asia, on the other hand, suffered a decline due to the health situation in China, although it maintained positive growth values of +20%. But here too, the stock lost points on the stock exchange, due to its excessive exposure to the Chinese market.

This time, the driving force behind Hermès was the watch sector with an exceptional increase in sales of +62%. Clothing and accessories followed a segment up by +44% compared to the first quarter of 2021. LVMH also published ten days ago the figures for the first quarter of 2022: Bernard Arnault's group announced a +23% growth in turnover for a total of 18 billion euros.

The very complicated geopolitical context does not yet affect the commercial performance of the major French luxury groups. For the time being, these giants remain sheltered from the collateral damage resulting from the sanctions against Russia and the still problematic global health situation.