French fashion house Hermes International posted a 1.4 per cent drop in revenue in the first quarter as the war with Iran negatively impacted sales in both the Middle East and France due to fewer tourists.
According to a company press release, the company’s revenue in the January-March period was €4.07bn, compared to €4.129bn in the same period of the previous year. Excluding changes in exchange rates, it was up 5.6 per cent, while analysts polled by Visible Alpha had on average forecast a 7.1 per cent rise.
Sales in France decreased by 2.8 per cent (to €347 million), while sales in the rest of Europe rose by 7.6 per cent (to €538 million). In Japan, they decreased by 3.9% (to €404 million) and in Other Asia-Pacific by 4.6% (to €1.88 billion). In the Americas, revenues were up 6.4 per cent (to €739 million). In other regions, including the Middle East, sales fell 13.4% (to €160 million).
Revenues in the leather goods segment were up 2% (to €1.85bn), while silk and textiles were up 0.4% (to €257m). Clothing and accessories sales were down 6.4% (to €1.08bn), perfumes and cosmetics down 2.2% (to €127m) and watches down 10.3% (to €135m).
The company still expects its revenue, excluding exchange rate fluctuations, to continue to grow in the medium term “despite economic, geopolitical and monetary uncertainties”.
Hermes’ capitalisation has fallen by more than 20% (to €186.6bn) over the past three months, while the CAC 40 stock index has lost 0.2%.
Hermes produces various products: clothing, accessories, watches, perfumes, jewellery, tableware, horse harness. At the same time, it is best known for Birkin and Kelly handbags and scarves.