Richemont First-Half Earnings Increase Strongly

Swiss luxury goods company Richemont SA (CFR.EB) said Tuesday its first-half earnings are expected to show a strong increase, partly due to exceptional items booked in the same period a year ago.

Richemont's operating profit for the six months ended Sept. 30 showed an increase of approximately 45% against the comparative period, while net profit for the period is expected to rise by about 80%, the company said. In the same period, sales rose 10% on a reported basis and 12% on a constant currency basis.

The increases mostly reflect the non-recurrence of the exceptional inventory buybacks in the prior-year period, improved trading performance and the positive net impact of period-end exchange rates, Richemont said.

The announcement was prompted by Swiss regulatory rules, which require companies to report immediately when the foreseeable profit or loss for a period is expected to deviate substantially from that of the prior-year period.

Richemont reports first-half results on Nov. 10.

Write to Sarah Sloat at sarah.sloat@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 17, 2017 02:22 ET (06:22 GMT)