Swatch CEO says sales growth to accelerate

Bloomberg

Swatch Group AG Chief Executive Officer Nick Hayek forecast sales growth to accelerate through the rest of the year as wholesalers stock up on watches and local demand for timepieces improves in markets from China to Switzerland and France. A stronger euro also should boost profitability at the maker of Omega and Breguet timepieces, Hayek said.
“We’ve seen the acceleration in July already, in August it got stronger and September looks like August: very positive,” the CEO said.
As the Swiss watch industry rebounds from the longest slump since the quartz crisis, wholesalers are no longer holding back on orders to stock up again, the CEO said. There’s also a “much healthier” mix between tourists and local buyers now in markets from China to Switzerland and France.
Swatch’s higher-priced brands, starting from Omega, had sales growth of 10 percent in the five months through August, in euro terms and constant rates, Hayek said. Jewellery sales gained almost 20 percent. Still, lower-end brands such as Swatch and Tissot had slower growth, with increases of 2 percent to 3 percent, he said.
Richemont, the owner of rival brands Cartier and Vacheron Constantin, this week reported a 7 percent increase in sales in the five months through August on a constant-currency basis that excluded exceptional inventory buybacks.
Swatch has set an “ambitious” internal objective for 7 percent to 9 percent sales growth this year, excluding currency shifts, Hayek said. He said it’s “not a forecast” or “guidance.” “Let’s fight to get this growth,” he said. “The opportunities are clearly bigger than the risks. It will be a challenging fight and who knows, perhaps, even the exchange rates for once could help us.”