French luxury group, controlled by billionaire Bernard Arnault, LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, reported a 17% jump in sales in the first quarter of 2023 – more than double market expectations, which enabled it to become Europe’s first firm to exceed $500 billion in market value.
After LVMH reported a spike in revenue in Q1 2023, shares of the holding company of Louis Vuitton, Moët & Chandon, Hennessy, Givenchy, Christian Dior, Bulgari and Sephora surged on the news, climbing 0.3% to €903.70 ($996.19) and raising the market value of the Paris-listed luxury group to €454 billion ($500.5 billion).
LVMH reported 2022 revenue of €79.2 billion ($87 billion), with profit from recurring operations reaching €21.1 billion ($23 billion). Those figures represented group’s second straight year of record-breaking performance.
Its latest numbers demonstrate that despite escalating EU inflation and soaring interest rates, the demand for luxury goods such as Bulgari jewellery, Louis Vuitton handbags and Moët & Chandon champagne has remained strong.
LVMH’s competitor Hermès, the maker of €5,500-plus ($6,000-plus) Birkin and Kelly handbags, reported a 23% jump in Q1 sales earlier in April. Other luxury goods firms including Kering (which owns Balenciaga and Gucci) and Burberry have also seen the prices of their shares skyrocket.
Strong growth across the world’s luxury products sector has been mainly attributed to the re-opening of China and the lifting of its Zero-COVID policy, which let to resurgence of booming sales in the Asian country. LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton’s soaring value has driven the wealth of Bernard Arnault, the world’s richest man, who co-founded the luxury goods group 35 years ago, to a new high.
His personal fortune now stands at almost $212 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, putting him $47 billion ahead of Tesla’s chief executive, Elon Musk, in second place.
