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This morning Richemont released a trading update for the quarter ending 31 December 2019. Total sales increased 6% for the period. Europe grew by a solid 10% while Asia lagged a little, growing by 3%. That was because of a large contraction in Hong Kong. Americas grew 9%, Japan contracted 1% and the Middle East and Africa grew by 6%. Online retail grew by 8% and now represents 18% of group sales.
The Richemont share price first hit R100 a share in 2013. It currently sits at R115 a share. That is not good by any means (especially in Rands) but is much better than a lot of other South African stocks which have fallen on hard times. Unfortunately, their biggest competitor, LVMH has thrived over the last 5 years. Booze and handbags have done better than watches and jewellery.
However this is a world class global business that we are lucky to have access to on the JSE. We still recommend holding it in JSE portfolios.