Hermès posts 10% sales jump

Japanese shoppers avoiding a tax hike helped expensive silk scarves and Birkin bags maker Hermès report forecast-beating sales growth.

The Paris-based luxury goods group revealed a 10.1% jump in group sales for the first quarter to April and defied fears of an Asian sales slowdown.

It warned last month that profit this year could be hit by the weakness of the Japanese yen after record profit last year, but sales in the region were up 22% as shoppers spent ahead of a planned sales tax hike.

Non-Japan sales were up 18%, showing that China’s desire for its French-made wares, such as its £5000 Kelly bag, has not waned. US sales were ahead 18% and Europe was better by 8% where “activity remains sustained in a difficult economic environment.”

Sales for the period reached €944 million (£777 million), up from €857 million for the same period of the previous year. Excluding currency swings, retail sales were up 16%.

The group has continued to expand and will open a new factory in France to cope with strong demand.

Hermès said it will “continue its long-term strategy based on creativity, maintaining control over its know-how, expanding its distribution network, strengthening its production capacity and securing its supply sources” and credited its success to its “unwavering determination to continually reinvent itself.”

The strong results will also please French rival LVMH, which has a 22% stake in the 177-year-old group.