Latest news with #LVMH
Mint
30 minutes ago
- Business
- Mint
Luxury heavyweights struggle to shake off shopper fatigue
LVMH, Kering Q2 sales seen lower Luxury sector faces prolonged downturn Uncertainty from trade war weighs on consumer confidence PARIS, July 23 (Reuters) - LVMH and Kering are expected to report another drop in quarterly sales, deepening investor worries about a prolonged downturn in the $400 billion luxury market as brands face the threat of hefty U.S. import tariffs. The results, kicking off with LVMH on Thursday, will likely show that any revival in demand for pricey fashion in the key U.S. and Chinese markets remains elusive. Uncertainty unleashed by U.S. President Donald Trump's trade war has caused volatility in stock markets, weighing on consumer confidence. Trump's threat of 30% tariffs on imported EU goods risks hurting luxury houses that make products in France and Italy. They will be wary of lifting prices for U.S. consumers after signs that previous rounds of price hikes slowed demand. "The level of price increases has been too much" at a number of brands, alienating the "aspirational" middle-income shoppers, said Caroline Reyl, head of premium brands at Pictet Asset Management. LVMH's fashion and leather goods division, home to Louis Vuitton and Dior, is expected to show sales down 6% year-on-year, its fourth consecutive quarterly decline, according to a Visible Alpha consensus forecast. Gucci, Kering's main earner which is undergoing an overhaul, has struggled for twice as long and is seen reporting sales down nearly a quarter from a year earlier. After two years of slowing sales, unease about the health of the industry is growing, with customers balking at higher price tags. Shares of LVMH are down nearly 27% since the start of this year, while shares of Kering are down 15%. Shares of Hermes and Richemont, which cater to mostly wealthy clients, were little changed, with the former down 0.9% and the latter up 1.6% over the same period. LVMH, Europe's most valuable listed company as recently as January, has slipped to fifth place. "It seems that investors are starting to worry about the long-term structural attractiveness of the industry," UBS analysts said last week. Sales of handbags - previously a growth engine - have been weak as shoppers opt for timeless, investment-grade jewellery. Brands including Dior, Gucci and Chanel have recruited new designers, but it takes time for fresh styles to enter stores. Brands like Louis Vuitton and Prada are offering more products below $1,000, like a new hybrid ballerina-sneaker shoe, for example, and emphasising beauty products, said Bain consultants. "The aspirational skew of the brand is unhelpful currently," said HSBC analysts, highlighting problems at Louis Vuitton. "Some inconsistencies, we feel, are likely starting to have consumers wonder." Consensus forecasts peg organic sales of LVMH down 3%, while Kering is seen down 13%; Hermes and Prada are expected to show a 10% rise, as Prada's Miu Miu label takes market share from rivals. Kering will report its results on July 29, while Hermes and Prada are due to report on July 30. (Reporting by Mimosa Spencer; Editing by Jamie Freed)
Fashion Network
32 minutes ago
- Business
- Fashion Network
Luxury's split between winners and losers is only getting wider
For Europe's luxury stocks, this earnings season will hammer home the widening gulf between the winners and the losers. The industry got off to a promising start with robust earnings from British trench coat maker Burberry Group Plc that sent its stock up as much as 9% and better-than-expected sales at Cartier owner Richemont. But upcoming reports from LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE, Kering SA and Salvatore Ferragamo SpA look less promising. If sales at these companies undershoot already weak forecasts, the shares may extend this year's drop that has wiped out market value of as much as 175 billion euros (205 billion dollars). While the outlook for luxury shares is crucial for Europe's stalled equity market rally given the weight of these companies, investors have to be more selective about the stocks they pick. 'It's not going to be one-tide-lifts-all-boats for the sector,' said Stefan-Guenter Bauknecht, a senior portfolio manager at DWS. 'It really depends on the category and how the brand is perceived in the category. And the VIP certainly helps.' One striking example of the sector's divide is LVMH versus French peer Hermes International SCA. Sales at LVMH's key Fashion & Leather Goods division are expected to have dropped 7.8% in the second quarter, according to analyst estimates. The company reports after the bell on Thursday. Hermes, which has been an example of how companies can thrive on selling the highest-end items, is expected to report revenue growth of 12% at its leather goods division. Its results are due on July 30. In the case of the Louis Vuitton and Tiffany & Co. owner, the stock has lost roughly half of its value over the past two years, losing its crown of Europe's biggest stock, with investors increasingly worried about an unprecedented demand slump in China. Hermes shares, on the other hand, are weathering the broader industry pullback. After a 160% jump since the end of 2020, the stock is little changed this year versus a 7% drop in Goldman Sachs Group Inc.'s basket of luxury shares. In the current economic context, pricing power is critical, said Helen Jewell, Europe, Middle East and Africa chief investment officer at BlackRock Fundamental Equities. 'The challenge for investors has been some of the names that we thought had greater brand strength, and it turned out they actually didn't,' she said, adding that there could be some buying opportunities after the selloff in the sector 'but you do need to be selective.' For the sector as a whole, the difference is stark between now and the 2021 to 2023 boom times, when investors were rushing to snap up any European luxury shares as they reaped the profits from shoppers on a post-pandemic spending spree. But with China's sluggish economy putting a dent into demand for pricey handbags and watches, investors are buying shares in the brands that can captivate consumers and selling the ones that can't. Among this year's winners, shares in Burberry have surged more than 30%. The UK fashion brand is gaining traction with its turnaround plan and winning new customers through its outwear push. To some investors, luxury valuations are still too high overall even after this year's plunge in a number of stocks. The industry has an average forward price-earnings ratio of 27, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That's a near 85% premium to the broader market and above the long-term premium from the past 10 years. 'This is a sector that is fully exposed to tariffs and fully exposed to the weaker dollar,' said Roland Kaloyan, head of European equity strategy at Societe Generale SA. 'It's going to be quite difficult, so I stick to my underweight.'
Al Etihad
an hour ago
- Business
- Al Etihad
Luxury heavyweights struggle to shake off shopper fatigue
23 July 2025 12:25 PARIS (REUTERS)LVMH and Kering are expected to report another drop in quarterly sales, deepening investor worries about a prolonged downturn in the $400 billion luxury market as brands face the threat of hefty US import results, kicking off with LVMH on Thursday, are expected to show that any revival in demand for pricey fashion in the key US and Chinese markets remains unleashed by US President Donald Trump's trade war has caused volatility in stock markets, weighing on consumer threat of 30% tariffs on imported EU goods risks hurting luxury houses that make products in France and Italy. They will be wary of lifting prices for US consumers after signs that previous rounds of price hikes slowed demand."The level of price increases has been too much" at a number of brands, alienating the "aspirational" middle-income shoppers, said Caroline Reyl, head of premium brands at Pictet Asset fashion and leather goods division, home to Louis Vuitton and Dior, is expected to show sales down 6% year-on-year, its fourth consecutive quarterly decline, according to a Visible Alpha consensus Kering's main earner which is undergoing an overhaul, has struggled for twice as long and is seen reporting sales down nearly a quarter from a year two years of slowing sales, unease about the health of the industry is growing, with customers balking at higher price of LVMH are down nearly 27% since the start of this year, while shares of Kering are down 15%. Shares of Hermes and Richemont, which cater to mostly wealthy clients, were little changed, with the former down 0.9% and the latter up 1.6% over the same Europe's most valuable listed company as recently as January, has slipped to fifth of handbags - previously a growth engine - have been weak as shoppers opt for timeless, investment-grade including Dior, Gucci and Chanel have recruited new designers, but it takes time for fresh styles to enter like Louis Vuitton and Prada are offering more products below $1,000, like a new hybrid ballerina-sneaker shoe, for example, and emphasising beauty products, said Bain that carries risks."The aspirational skew of the brand is unhelpful currently," said HSBC analysts, highlighting problems at Louis Vuitton. "Some inconsistencies, we feel, are likely starting to have consumers wonder."Consensus forecasts peg organic sales of LVMH down 3%, while Kering is seen down 13%; Hermes and Prada are expected to show a 10% rise, as Prada's Miu Miu label takes market share from rivals. Kering will report its results on July 29, while Hermes and Prada are due to report on July 30.
CNBC
an hour ago
- Business
- CNBC
Europe's most valuable firm SAP flags U.S. trade slowdown but says Japan deal gives 'hope'
German software giant SAP said Wednesday that U.S. tariff tensions were slowing down its customers' decision-making, but that the Japan trade deal announced Tuesday was cause for cautious optimism. "In some sectors which are most affected by these [policy] decisions, like public sector U.S. and also the very big manufacturing industrial companies with complicated global supply chains, there was the one or other large transaction which has slipped over the turn of the last quarter," SAP Chief Financial Officer Dominik Asam told CNBC's "Europe Early Edition." Deals were not disappearing entirely, but approvals were being passed higher up the chain of command and holding up processes due to uncertainty, he noted. "Now we have to see how quickly we can catch up. That is very much a question of how the overall environment will evolve. I mean, obviously the most recent developments in Japan give us some hope, but too early to speculate on that," Asam said. "The faster the uncertainty abates, the more confidence we have in the outcome for the full year," he added. SAP in March became Europe's biggest listed company, overtaking French luxury group LVMH and Ozempic-maker Novo Nordisk in market capitalization, after pivoting the business firstly toward cloud computing and then toward opportunities in artificial intelligence. SAP now brings in the majority of its revenue from cloud services, and has focused on how AI can tap into its huge set of finance, sales and supply chain data to make efficiencies for businesses. The U.S. is one of its core markets, and investors have been questioning how SAP would be impacted by a potential pullback in spending as the administration of President Donald Trump engages in tense trade disputes and tariff negotiations with much of the world. The status of any framework deal with the European Union remained mired in uncertainty as of Wednesday, but global stock markets were buoyed by the announcement Tuesday of an agreement with Japan setting tariffs on its exports to the U.S. at 15%. SAP reported late on Tuesday a 9% year-on-year revenue rise to 9.03 billion euros ($10.6 billion) in the second quarter, just shy of an LSEG-compiled consensus forecast of 9.08 billion euros. Operating profit was just ahead of estimates at 2.57 billion euros. The company reiterated its full-year 2025 outlook, despite noting that the "prevailing dynamic environment implies elevated levels of uncertainty and reduced visibility." On an analyst call Tuesday, CEO Christian Klein said SAP was seeing "strong momentum" from the recent national security spending push in Europe, which has driven massive gains in defense stocks this year, some of which are SAP customers. Its current cloud backlog, a key metric for the firm, was up 28% on a constant currency basis to 18.05 billion, which analysts at Deutsche Bank said were "strong" in a Wednesday note. "Overall, we see SAP continuing to execute very well in a challenging environment, helped by its strong product offerings, AI roadmap and structural long-term Cloud migration projects. New wins included landmark customers such as Alibaba in Q2," the Deutsche Bank analysts said. However, other reactions were less positive, with analysts at TD Cowen and Piper Sandler trimming their target prices on the stock. One drag on the results came from fluctuations in foreign exchange rates, particularly weakness in the U.S. dollar against the euro, in which SAP reports. The firm forecast a 5 percentage-point drag on cloud revenue growth figures in the third quarter, assuming exchange rates as of June 30. SAP's Frankfurt-listed shares were 3.5% lower in early deals on Wednesday.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Luxury heavyweights struggle to shake off shopper fatigue
By Mimosa Spencer PARIS (Reuters) -LVMH and Kering are expected to report another drop in quarterly sales, deepening investor worries about a prolonged downturn in the $400 billion luxury market as brands face the threat of hefty U.S. import tariffs. The results, kicking off with LVMH on Thursday, will likely show that any revival in demand for pricey fashion in the key U.S. and Chinese markets remains elusive. Uncertainty unleashed by U.S. President Donald Trump's trade war has caused volatility in stock markets, weighing on consumer confidence. Trump's threat of 30% tariffs on imported EU goods risks hurting luxury houses that make products in France and Italy. They will be wary of lifting prices for U.S. consumers after signs that previous rounds of price hikes slowed demand. "The level of price increases has been too much" at a number of brands, alienating the "aspirational" middle-income shoppers, said Caroline Reyl, head of premium brands at Pictet Asset Management. LVMH's fashion and leather goods division, home to Louis Vuitton and Dior, is expected to show sales down 6% year-on-year, its fourth consecutive quarterly decline, according to a Visible Alpha consensus forecast. Gucci, Kering's main earner which is undergoing an overhaul, has struggled for twice as long and is seen reporting sales down nearly a quarter from a year earlier. After two years of slowing sales, unease about the health of the industry is growing, with customers balking at higher price tags. Shares of LVMH are down nearly 27% since the start of this year, while shares of Kering are down 15%. Shares of Hermes and Richemont, which cater to mostly wealthy clients, were little changed, with the former down 0.9% and the latter up 1.6% over the same period. LVMH, Europe's most valuable listed company as recently as January, has slipped to fifth place. "It seems that investors are starting to worry about the long-term structural attractiveness of the industry," UBS analysts said last week. Sales of handbags - previously a growth engine - have been weak as shoppers opt for timeless, investment-grade jewellery. Brands including Dior, Gucci and Chanel have recruited new designers, but it takes time for fresh styles to enter stores. LOWER-PRICED PRODUCTS Brands like Louis Vuitton and Prada are offering more products below $1,000, like a new hybrid ballerina-sneaker shoe, for example, and emphasising beauty products, said Bain consultants. But that carries risks. "The aspirational skew of the brand is unhelpful currently," said HSBC analysts, highlighting problems at Louis Vuitton. "Some inconsistencies, we feel, are likely starting to have consumers wonder." Consensus forecasts peg organic sales of LVMH down 3%, while Kering is seen down 13%; Hermes and Prada are expected to show a 10% rise, as Prada's Miu Miu label takes market share from rivals. Kering will report its results on July 29, while Hermes and Prada are due to report on July 30.
