RECORD BAGGED

Luxury goods maker Hermes announces an all-time high profit in the first half.

PARIS: Luxury goods maker Hermes International said yesterday that good sales momentum across all of its divisions and in all regions helped it achieve a record profitability in the first six months.

“The performance in the first half confirmed the positive momentum of the ready-to-wear and accessories and the silk and textiles business lines,” Hermes said in a statement.

Growth in leather goods and saddlery was “sustained” and the perfumes division also booked an increase in sales, it said.

Overall, group revenues rose by 11% to €2.713 billion ($3.23 billion) in the period from January to June, Hermes said.

Underlying or operating profit was up 13% at €931 million euros — or an “all-time high” of 34.3% of sales — and net profit climbed by 11% to €605 million.

In regional terms, “revenues rose in all geographical areas worldwide,” Hermes said.

At a news conference, Hermes chief executive Axel Dumas hailed the group’s “very good profitability” and insisted it was attributable to “organic growth.”

But Dumas cautioned in a telephone news conference that Hermes was staying “prudent in a very volatile environment” and that the first-half performance could not be extrapolated for the whole year even though the company was “fully hedged” against a stronger euro in 2017.

There could therefore be a negative impact from a stronger euro on 2018 profits, he said on a call with journalists.

“We try to be ambitious but are cautious in a very volatile environment,” Dumas said.