Hermes still bullish on 2010
FRENCH luxury Hermes is maintaining its 2010 guidance despite a broader rebound in the luxury sector, chief executive Patrick Thomas said yesterday.
Asked whether Hermes would raise its forecasts after similar upgrades from luxury fashion companies such as Valentino, Thomas said: “Not us, we keep the same guidance.”
Speaking on the sidelines of the Hermes 2011 spring/summer collection presented on Wednesday – the last one designed by Jean-Paul Gaultier – Thomas said economic clouds remained dark.
“I see that the crisis is far from being over and that difficulties are ahead of us,” Thomas said.
Thomas said he was worried the global financial system was still being transformed, which risked impacting consumer demand.
Thomas said he had not seen an improvement in the economic environment, only “more and more Chinese customers entering our shops in Asia and in the West”.
In July, Hermes raised its 2010 sales growth target to 10-12 per cent from five per cent while at the end of August, it said it expected sales growth of around 12 per cent. Several luxury groups, including LVMH, and Gucci Group, have posted forecast-beating first-half results.