LVMH'S New Quarterly Performance Is Still A Hero After LV.

Luxury group LVMH ushered in a "start" in 2019.

On Wednesday local time, LVMH released its first quarterly report in fiscal year 2019. The report shows that LVMH's overall revenue rose by 16% to 12 billion 540 million euros in the 3 financial months ended March 31st, exceeding analysts' expectations.

Among them, the fashion and leather sectors including Louis Vuitton, Dior, Fendi, Givenchy, CELINE and other brands were particularly brilliant, which rose by 15% to 5 billion 110 million euros over revenue, exceeding analysts' 12% growth expectations, and basically the same as last year's 16% growth. Liquor brands, perfume cosmetic brands, and licensed retail brands increased by 9%, 9% and 8% respectively. Jewelry watches brand performance is relatively weak, revenue grew 4% over the same period last year.

"The trend we observed in 2018 is still continuing in the current quarter," LVMH said in a statement. "All of our regional markets have achieved good growth."

From a regional perspective, sales in Asian countries, excluding Japan, grew by 17% over the first quarter, compared with 9%, 8% and 7% respectively in Japan, the United States and Europe.

The performance of the Chinese market is highlighted in the follow-up earnings call conference. Many brands in the fashion and leather goods department, especially Fendi, Loewe, Berluti and Loro Piana, are all pointed to strong sales growth for Chinese consumers.

Such flagship brands such as Christian Dior and Louis Vuitton are also inseparable from the care of Chinese consumers. In the case of Louis Vuitton, the group's chief financial officer, Jean-Jacques Guiony, specifically mentioned that the sales growth brought by Chinese consumers remained at the two digit level, extending the momentum of the past few years. Moreover, as the price gap between brands in China and other regions has been shrinking, the consumption of Chinese consumers will be more concentrated in China and neighboring markets.

It is worth mentioning that in the last financial year alone, it contributed 10 billion euros of Louis Vuitton to the group, which is still the biggest hero in the group. Although Guiony said the group would not split the brand in the quarterly earnings report, it could still know that Louis Vuitton had the most outstanding performance from analysts' questions and answers. At the same time, Guiony also said that in 2019, LVMH will open about 100 flash stores worldwide, more than last year, in order to reach a wider consumer group.

When it comes to Louis Vuitton, Guiony said that the brand is expanding its capacity and improving its production efficiency, and with its new flagship store layout in the world's major cities, it has great potential. In fact, in recent times, Louis Vuitton has reopened boutiques in Florence, London, Monaco and Shanghai. A new brand leather workshop opened in Beaulieu-sur-Layon, France.

The performance of CELINE, which has its own topic of conversation because of the replacement of creative director, is still in secrecy. As chairman of the group Bernard Arnault has publicly expressed high hopes for the new CELINE, it believes that its performance can turn 2 to 3 times in five years, and how CELINE's performance is full of curiosity. The only thing that is known is that Guiony has denied analysts' claims that the brand's new image has been mixed.

After the announcement, LVMH group's share price rose 3%, making group chairman Bernard Arnault surpass Buffett as the world's third richest in Forbes's richest list. The women's Wear Daily quoted RBC capital market analyst Rogerio Fujimori as saying that although the group's share price has risen 28% this year, the fashion and leather goods sector will continue to maintain its upward trend due to its strong performance. The target price for the LVMH set by the agency was 340 euros, while LVMH closed 329.75 euros as of the date of the earnings announcement.