Kering Revenue Jumps 28%, Watches and Jewelry ‘Solid’

Paris—French luxury conglomerate Kering posted a nearly 30 percent year-over-year jump in comps, boosted by the continuing renaissance of Gucci.  

In reporting its third quarter financials last week, the Paris-based company did not break out the performance of its jewelry and watch brands, which are: Boucheron, Pomellato, Qeelin, Dodo, Ulysse Nardin and Girard-Perregaux.

It also did not provide a specific revenue figure for its Watches & Jewelry division as a whole, instead reporting its results with “Other Houses,” for which third quarter revenue was up 32 percent year-over-year to €516 million ($588.2 million).

Kering did note, however, that the watch and jewelry brands it owns had a “solid” third quarter overall.

New collections and line extensions for Boucheron, Pomellato and Qeelin were “very well received” while sales were “robust” for watch brands, the company said.

Overall, Kering saw both total sales and same-store sales rise 28 percent in the third quarter, hitting €3.40 billion ($3.88 billion).

Gucci, the longstanding Italian brand that’s been embraced by millennials thanks in part to its digital savvy, led the way with comps climbing 35 percent.

Region-wise, same-store sales in North America were strongest in the period, increasing 36 percent with Asia-Pacific not too far behind at 33 percent.

Online sales for the company, which also owns the Balenciaga, Yves Saint Laurent and Alexander McQueen brands, spiked 80 percent while wholesale sales were up 27 percent on a comparable basis.

Company Chairman and CEO François-Henri Pinault described the company’s growth as “sound, well balanced and sustained” across regions and distribution channels.

“The talent of each of our houses at creating strong emotional ties with its customers, conceiving a bold, generous creative universe, and reinventing its codes, is at the root of Kering’s success,” he said. “Beyond short-term developments, we know that the secular growth of the luxury market … will continue to support our operating and financial outperformance.”