Sales in LVMH’s fashion and leather goods business fell 5 per cent in the third quarter of the year, with the luxury group hit by a slowdown in demand in China where early hopes for a turnaround have disappointed.
The decline marks a setback from the previous quarter, when the owner of Louis Vuitton and Dior reported its first period of growth in its bellwether division for two years. Third-quarter organic revenue at the unit fell more than the 1.8 per cent expected by analysts in the three months to September, compared with a year earlier.
Hopes that the luxury industry was emerging from a near four-year downturn have faded over the past couple of months, with conflict in the Middle East, geopolitical turmoil and inflationary pressures weighing on the confidence and spending power of “aspirational” luxury consumers.
LVMH said on Monday (Oct 12) that its fashion and accessories business continued to benefit from the “buoyant US market but was affected in the third quarter by the slowdown in demand in China”.