LVMH revenue inches higher, DFS down

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LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton today announced that its revenue for the first nine months of 2002 rose 2.2% to Eur8.85bn ($8.74bn)

In a statement, the world's largest luxury-goods group reiterated that it expects a "very significant" rise in its full-year 2002 operating profit. All group operations were growing as of the end of September, with the single exception of DFS Group where sales remained suppressed by weakness in tourism, said LVMH.

LVMH said that, excluding exchange-rate fluctuations, group revenues would have shown an increase of 5.4%. The company said its nine-month revenue increase "shows that the uncertainties facing the luxury goods business aren't affecting all the market participants equally. The LVMH group is continuing to grow both in terms of revenue and earnings." Sales growth accelerated in the second half of the summer because of a number of new product launches and new store openings.

LVMH said sales at the Louis Vuitton leathergoods and accessories outlets have benefited from new product launches, while perfumery business was boosted by the new Dior fragrance, Addict, that was launched in September, and with a number of additional launches in the pipeline. All of Louis Vuitton's markets benefitted from initiatives such as the launch of the Tambour watch and the Louis Vuitton Cup product range.

Champagne sales are again growing in line with consumption, LVMH said, following the strong rebound at the beginning of the year. Cognac sales continue to grow, especially in the US market.

The company DFS said  is neverthless benefiting from a slow but steady recovery in tourism, while sales at the perfumery chain Sephora in the US continued to grow at more than 20% on a constant stores basis. Sales in the Selective Retail division overall were down 8.4% compared to a year ago.