Quarterly results of Hermes pulled by the acceleration of sales from China

Hermes said Thursday that accelerating sales, particularly from China, had helped the French luxury group to exceed market expectations in the first quarter and continued to allay investors' fears of the region's potential slowdown. .

The retailer, who is best known for its silk scarves and Birkin and Kelly handbags, said first-quarter sales at constant exchange rates rose 12 percent to 1.61 billion euros, a a figure slightly higher than the estimates of 1.59 billion euros established by Bloomberg.

All geographic regions recorded double-digit growth, driven by Asia ex-Japan, where sales rose 17%. In Europe, the domestic market of Hermes rose by 1%, the anti-government group yellow vests The demonstrations held Saturday at the beginning of the year have harmed the traffic of its two stores located in the center of Paris.

Hermes is also helping to dispel fears of a slowdown in the Chinese luxury goods market, where investors are asking whether a trade war with the United States will dampen consumer demand for luxury goods. The results of the first quarter of Hermes follow those of LVMH and Kering, two luxury companies, which showed no signs of slowing down in China.

A spokesman for Hermes said that far from focusing on mainland China, growth was widespread, with Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau posting solid sales. Last year, Hermes began deploying its new e-commerce site in Asia.

The spokesman confirmed the company's "ambitious targets" for revenue growth at constant exchange rates in 2019.