PARIS — Hermès International remained ahead of the luxury pack, with the French luxury group’s sales driven by its core categories of leather goods and silks.
Second quarter revenue rose 6.7 percent at constant exchange rates to 4.1 billion euros, slightly faster than the first quarter, with growth driven by double-digit gains in the Americas and Japan, continued resilience across Europe and a slight return to growth in Asia outside Japan.
The results were largely in line with analysts’ expectations, with “no major surprises,” said RBC analyst Piral Dadhania.
The numbers reinforce Hermès’ position as one of the industry’s strongest performers at a time when much of the luxury sector continues to grapple with softer aspirational spending and a prolonged slowdown in China.
“In tougher periods of luxury demand, Hermes’ relative defensiveness is more attractive as it is likely to suffer less than peers, given its absolute luxury brand positioning and supply constrained model for its most coveted products, although we do anticipate a third consecutive year of modest margin compression from an elevated COVID level,” added Dadhania.
