FRANCE: LVMH reports revenue growth but wines and spirits suffer

LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, the world's leading luxury group, said today (16 April) that it had achieved revenues of EUR4 billion (US$6.37bn) in the first quarter of 2008, up 5% on the same period last year.

Organic revenue growth, which doesn't take account of exchange rate fluctuations, was at 12%.

All the divisions of LVMH achieved double-digit organic growth in the period except its wines and spirits business, which suffered a fall in volumes.

The wines and spirits division reported revenues for the period of EUR640m, compared to EUR689m in the same period in 2007, a fall of 7% on a reported basis and growth of 1% on an organic basis.

In a statement the company said: "In wines & spirits, excluding the exchange rate impact, price increases applied since the beginning of the year offset the decrease in sales volumes incurred during the quarter due to the adverse timing of price increases compared to 2007.

"The champagne division made good progress in promising markets such as Russia, Asia and Latin America. Hennessy Cognac continued its rapid growth in China, Russia and Vietnam."

The statement concluded: "Thanks to the strength and creativity of its brands and its expansion into new markets, LVMH will continue its growth in 2008 despite the challenging monetary environment and an uncertain economic climate at the beginning of this year. Increasing market share and the profitability of its leading brands as well as improving the results of its developing companies remain LVMH top priorities. All of these elements allow us to confirm the objective of tangible growth in the group's results in 2008."