Retail News CRM

Tag: drop

  • LVMH sales up 15 per cent despite global tensions

    LVMH sales up 15 per cent despite global tensions

    Luxury brand owner LVMH has reported a solid 15 percent increase in sales in the first half of this year, shrugging off gloomy consumer sentiment in many markets.

    The parent of Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, Bulgari, Sephora, DFS, Moet and a raft of other brands recorded sales of €25.1 billion. Organic growth was 12 percent ahead of the same period a year earlier.

    Second quarter growth was also up by 15 per cent of the beginning of the year, with the US, Asia and Europe all showing good growth and an obvious rebound in France in the second quarter.

    While the company noted a slowdown in demand in Hong Kong and Macau over the past few months, its DFS department-store subsidiary recorded “good” performance during the first half of the year.

    Profit from recurring operations was €5.295 billion for the first half, up by 14 percent, with an operating margin reaching 21.1 per cent – about the same as last year.

    “These results once again illustrate the effectiveness of our strategy and the exceptional desirability of our Maisons, whose products transcend time,” said chairman and CEO Bernard Arnault.

    “Their constant demand for quality and their consistently refreshed creativity are key to LVMH’s success, always guided by a long-term vision, combining exemplarity and responsibility in all the company’s actions. Despite buoyant demand, we will continue to manage costs and remain vigilant into the second half of the year. We are therefore entering the second half of the year with confidence and count on the talent of our teams and their shared entrepreneurial passion to further increase, once again in 2019, our leadership in the world of high-quality products.”

    The company’s fashion and leather goods business group recorded organic sales growth of 18 percent and profit from recurring operations was up 17 percent. The Louis Vuitton brand business achieved growth in all businesses and regions. Christian Dior had “a remarkable performance during the first half,” the company said, with its new 30 Montaigne line a standout.

    The selective retailing business group achieved organic revenue growth of 8 percent, with profit from recurring operations up 17 percent. Within that group, Sephora recorded strong revenue growth and gained market share in all of its locations, LVMH reported.

    Lees ook:

  • Mahindra Sales Grow By 11% Last Year

    Mahindra Sales Grow By 11% Last Year

    Indian auto giant Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) registered a growth of 11 per cent in auto sales for the financial year 2018-19. The automaker sold 608,596 units in the previous fiscal, as opposed to 549,153 units sold in FY2017-18. The company’s steady growth was visible in the March 2019 sales results as well with Mahindra selling 62,952 units, as against 62,076 units in March 2018. The automaker saw a hike of one per cent in its sales for the previous month.

    Commenting on the performance, Rajan Wadhera, President, Automotive Sector, Mahindra said, “We have closed FY-19 with robust double digit growth of 11 per cent at an overall level, despite strong headwinds faced by the Indian automotive industry this year. This growth has been supported by our three new product launches, which have been well received in the market. The commercial vehicles segment and exports have also posted strong growth rates of 15 per cent and 37 per cent respectively.”

    Mahindra’s domestic sales stood at 59,012 units for March 2019, growing by one per cent over 58,652 units sold in March last year. The Passenger Vehicle segment that includes UVs, cars and vans contributed 27,646 units to last month’s sales, registering a growth of four per cent over 26,555 units sold in March 2018. The commercial vehicle segment meanwhile saw sales decline by four per cent with 24,423 units sold in March this year, as against 25,495 units sold in March last year.

    The Medium and Heavy Commercial Vehicles segment saw Mahindra sell sold 917 units, which also saw sluggish volumes with a decline of 33 per cent in year-on-year sales. Nevertheless, exports dor March 2019 stood at 3940 vehicles, growing by 15 per cent, while three wheeler sales for the previous month grew by five per cent at 6943 units.

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • Huawei says half of its flagships could have foldable displays by 2021

    Huawei says half of its flagships could have foldable displays by 2021

    Huawei is betting pretty heavily on foldable smartphones and in a recent interview the CEO of the company’s Consumer Business Group, Richard Yu, revealed Huawei’s short-term expectations for the new device format. Because the foldable segment is so new, Huawei’s primary focus at the moment is the recently-announced Mate X, which will go on sale in June. This device, as the company openly admits, is rather expensive but as foldable devices start to gain traction Huawei expects pricing to begin falling. In fact, in just two years’ time, Huawei’s foldable flagships should cost no more than regular smartphones.

    This gradual drop in price will also result in Huawei bringing more devices to the market and, by 2021, half of the smartphone giant’s flagship offerings could sport foldable displays, with one of these being a compact device that’s smaller than both the Huawei Mate X and Huawei P30 Pro.

    Obviously, foldable devices will become increasingly more important to Huawei in the years to come. The company does, however, recognize that not everyone will be interested in the new format and that some will prefer traditional smartphones. This would suggest that regular devices, like the ones in our hands today, will be sticking around for quite some time and are under no threat at the moment.

  • M1 profit falls 16.1% in 2016

    M1 profit falls 16.1% in 2016

    Singapore’s M1 has reported a 16.1% slump in net profit for 2016 to S$149.7 million ($105.3 million), blaming lower international call and roaming revenues as well as rising expenses.

    The operator’s service revenue for the year fell 2% to S$805.5 million, due to the ongoing impact of OTT substitution. But fixed-line revenue grew a strong 21.4% to S$104.2 million, growing to account for 12.9% of service revenue.

    Besides the decrease in revenue, M1 said depreciation and amortisation expenses grew due to an increasing 4G network fixed asset base, and additional spectrum acquisition costs also contributed to the profit decline.

    M1 added 52,000 postpaid customers and 39,000 prepaid customers during the year, bringing its total mobile customer base up to 2.02 million. Mobile churn meanwhile stayed flat at 1%.

    During the year, mobile data consumption grew to account to more than half of M1’s total service revenue, increasing 7.7 percentage points year-on-year during the fourth quarter to 54%.

    M1 meanwhile added 32,000 fiber customers during the year, taking its total to 160,000 and contributing to the growth in fixed service revenue.

    Capex for the year grew to S$140.5 million, up from $133.5 million a year earlier,

    “We continue to invest and innovate to enhance our service offerings to better serve our customers, as well as capitalize on new opportunities in the digital economy such as solutions for smart nation and  IoT services,” M1 CEO Karen Kooi said.

    “These initiatives, together with the foundation that we have laid over the years, will enable us to create and deliver long-term value to our stakeholders.”

    Lees ook:

  • Hong Kong Suffering From China Visitor Drop

    Hong Kong Suffering From China Visitor Drop

    Tour groups from mainland China to Hong Kong could shrink by two-thirds in the first half of this year, dealing another blow to retailers and an economy facing pressure from slowing growth in China.

    China accounts for almost three-quarters of all visitors to Hong Kong, which relies on tourism for about 5 percent of its GDP.

    Tourism numbers, however, fell last year for the first time in more than a decade and Ricky Tse, chairman of the Hong Kong Inbound Tour Operators Association, said he expects a further decline this year as the strong Hong Kong dollar continues to drive mainland Chinese to comparatively cheaper destinations such as Japan and South Korea.

    “The drop will continue for sure. The winter has just begun,” Tse said, adding that he expected the number of tours by Chinese visitors to fall by 60 percent in the first half of this year after halving in 2015.

    Government data shows tourist arrivals to Hong Kong fell 2.5 percent year-on-year in 2015 to 59.32 million, the first decline since 2003 when the city was hit by an outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).

    This decline has hit luxury retailers, with the latest available data showing overall retail sales falling for the ninth consecutive month in November, the longest period of decline in 13 years.

    Brokerage CLSA, forecast trips by mainland Chinese to Hong Kong and the nearby gambling hub of Macau to average 3 percent growth over the next five years, compared with 16 percent growth for all other markets.

    “The move away from pure shopping trips is one of the main reasons that led to the slowdown in Hong Kong,” CLSA said in a recent report. “Looking into 2016, we believe the trend will continue.”

    (Reuters)

    Lees ook:

  • Tourists drag down Hong Kong retail sales

    Tourists drag down Hong Kong retail sales

    Official Hong Kong retail sales figures for March show a 2.9 per cent year-on-year fall, blamed on shrinking in-bound tourist numbers.

    According to data released by the Census and Statistics Department the fall follows a two per cent drop in January and February combined.

    A government spokesman blamed the sluggish sales on a slowdown in inbound tourism.

    “Most types of retail outlets recorded year-on-year declines in sales… Retail outlets selling certain consumer durable goods saw some notable increases in sales, mainly helped by the launch of certain smartphone models,” the spokesman said.

    Weakened tourism is likely to continue to constrain growth, he said, “although the stable labour market conditions should still render support to local consumer sentiment”.

  • Osim profit plummets

    Osim profit plummets

    Lifestyle company Osim has posted a 53 per cent profit drop for the first quarter on declining sales.

    The retailer of massage chairs and other remedial devices, says sales fell 13 per cent quarter-on-quarter, blaming a lack of new products and a drop-off in mainland Chinese tourists into Hong Kong, a key market for the Singapore-listed company.

    Total first quarter sales were S$150 million, and Osim profit $18 million

    “This has been a challenging quarter where retail sales across the core countries has been
    soft and there have been no new major Osim product launches,” the company said in its earnings statement.

    “Despite these challenges, our dominant brand has enabled us to maintain a stable gross margin and highly cash generative business. We are continuing to invest for growth supported by a strong balance sheet.”

    Osim has 560 retail stores and China remains its largest market, where it has 252 stores in 45 cities.

    “Products including uInfinity Luxe, uDiva, uHip, uSqueez Air, uTrek and uShape Music have sustained our dominant position in the market. We have just launched a new massage chair uMagic in April with favourable response and will be introducing more innovative products this year.”

    Osim also operates 233 GNC/Rich Life stores and 44 TWG Tea stores, with plans for 15 more this coming year.

    “With the upcoming planned new product launches we remain positive about the outlook for
    the remainder of the year.”

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • Hong Kong’s retail gross sales down 2.9 pct in March

    Hong Kong’s retail gross sales down 2.9 pct in March

    Hong Kong’s worth of complete retail gross sales fell 2.9 % year-on-year to 38.four billion HK dollars ( about four.9 billion U.S. dollars) in March, 2015, the statistics division stated right here on Tuesday.

    The worth of gross sales of jewellery, watches and clocks, and priceless presents misplaced 18.6 % in March from a yr in the past, adopted by gross sales of fuels 16.four %, footwear, allied merchandise and different clothes equipment 11.7 %, Chinese language medicine and herbs eight.four % and optical outlets 5.three %.

    Then again, the worth of gross sales of meals, alcoholic drinks and tobacco rose four.zero %, adopted by gross sales of electrical items and photographic gear 2.eight %, and books, newspapers, stationery and presents 2.three %.

    A authorities spokesman stated the efficiency of retail gross sales remained sluggish in March, with most forms of shops recording year-on-year declines in gross sales, conceivably reflecting the slowdown in inbound tourism.

    The retail gross sales efficiency within the close to time period is more likely to be constrained by the weaker efficiency of inbound tourism, though the secure labor market circumstances ought to nonetheless render help to native shopper sentiment, the spokesman stated.

    Lees ook:

  • Japan retail sales plunge

    Japan retail sales plunge

    Japan retail sales plunged nearly 10 per cent in March compared with a year ago.

    The sales slump – 9.7 per cent – was worse than expected, but despite the shock, analysts urged caution in the interpretation of the data. In March 2014, sales were artificially high as Japanese brought forward spending to avoid a sales tax increase that took effect on April 1.

    Analysts had expected a fall of close to seven per cent. February’s fall was just 1.8 per cent. Retail sales have been subdued since Japan raised the consumption tax to eight per cent last April.

    Marcel Thieliant, an economist at Capital Economics, said in a research note that the spending decline suggests private consumption may have fallen for the first time since the sales tax rose.

    “It was widely expected that consumption would benefit from the plunge in energy prices. However, households have chosen to save rather than spend the windfall from cheaper oil.”

    The decrease was the worst March fall since 1998.