Editor’s Note
LVMH’s 2024 results reveal a luxury sector under pressure, yet the group’s performance demonstrates resilience. While sales and profit declined, the figures surpassed analyst forecasts, suggesting a contained downturn. The moderation of the fashion division’s decline in Q4 offers a cautiously optimistic note for the year ahead.
The French luxury giant, chaired by Bernard Arnault, has concluded the fiscal year with sales of 84.683 billion euros. The group’s fashion division, the largest by business volume, slowed its decline in the fourth quarter of 2024.
LVMH closes 2024 weakened, but not as much as analysts expected. The French luxury industry giant contains the sector’s tremor and closes the last fiscal year with a 2% drop in sales, while its net profit has fallen by 17%.
According to the company, considered a barometer of the sector, at market close, total sales for 2024 stood at 84.683 billion euros, compared to 86.153 billion in 2023.
The company’s net profit, on the other hand, was 12.550 billion euros, compared to 15.174 billion euros in 2023.
The company’s operating profit fell by 14%, to 19.571 billion euros.
By business area, the one that recorded the largest sales decline was Wines and Spirits (with locomotives like Moet Chandon), with an 11% drop, to 5.862 billion euros.
By business volume, the group’s largest division is Fashion and Leather Goods, with a business volume of 41.060 billion euros, after falling 3% in 2024. Watches and Jewelry, with 10.577 billion euros, shrank another 3%, while Perfumes and Cosmetics grew by 2% (to 8.418 billion euros) and Selective Retailing (which includes Sephora) also increased its sales by 2%.
All divisions, however, have shrunk their net profit, with a 36% drop in the case of Wines and Spirits; 28% in Watches and Jewelry; 10% in Fashion and Leather Goods and 6% in Perfumes and Cosmetics.
In the fourth quarter, the group, owner of LVMH or Dior, has begun to recover its pace. The Fashion and Leather Goods division concluded the last quarter with a 1% drop in sales, compared to the 5% recorded in the third quarter. The rest of the divisions have also shown a better evolution, with Watches and Jewelry even managing to grow organically after the entire year in negative territory.