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Richemont remains cautious despite sales hike

Swiss-based luxury goods group Richemont has seen sales jump in the five months to 31 August, boosted by the acquisition of online fashion business NET-A-PORTER.COM and increasing demand from Asia.

Sales at the family-controlled company increased by 37% year-on-year following the purchase of NET-A-PORTER.COM in April this year for €272 million.

Excluding this acquisition, sales rose 22% driven by demand from Asia and the Americas, where Richemont reported a 36% and 38% increase in sales respectively.

In a statement, Richemont, which owns luxury brands like Montblanc, Cartier and Dunhill, said that the strong sales partly reflect the low comparative figures in the same period last year.

Johann Rupert (pictured), executive chairman and son of founder Anton Rupert stated: "This time last year we were still seeing falling sales. This year, with double-digit sales growth already in hand, Richemont will report significantly higher first half profit."

However, Rupert said he remained cautious about the rest of the year. "It is far too soon to draw any conclusions about the sustainability of the economic recovery or whether the recession is truly behind us."

Earlier, Richemont reported revenues of €5.18 billion for the 2009/10 financial year.

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