Hermès withstands luxury slowdown as Q3 sales jump 11%

French fashion and accessories giant Hermès managed to grow quarterly sales by more than a tenth despite the wider luxury-market slowdown, as it was able to shrug off weak demand in China.

The company reiterated its guidance to grow revenues at constant exchange rates over the medium term.

Hermès reported revenues of €11.21bn for the three months to 30 September, up 11.4% on the third quarter of 2023, or 13.8% higher at constant exchange rates, with double-digit growth recorded in every region except Asia-Pacific when excluding Japan.

Asia, which accounts for over half of group sales, saw revenues climbed 6% to €6.16bn, with Japanese sales surging 22.6% to €1.05bn. Meanwhile, solid growth in South Korea, Singapore, Australia and Thailand more than offset a downturn in traffic in Greater China since the end of the Chinese New Year, along with tough comparatives with last year.

Sales in Europe jumped 15.9% to €2.60bn, grew 11.7% in the Americas to €2.0bn and more than doubled in the Middle East to €456m (+104.4%).

“In a more uncertain economic and geopolitical context, I want to thank all employees for the robust third-quarter performance, and our customers for their loyalty. Thanks to the singularity of its model, Hermès is continuing its recruitments and long-term investments," said executive chair Axel Dumas.

The stock was up 1.8% at €2,097 by 1248 in Paris.