It’s in the Bag

Strong sales of its expensive liquors, checkered handbags and sport watches propelled LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton’s first-quarter sales up 7 percent, to $5.2 billion, from the same period a year earlier. Stripping out the impact of exchange rates, the increase stood at 13 percent.

“Despite an unfavorable currency environment, we remain very optimistic,” Jean-Jacques Guiony, finance director of Paris-based LVMH told analysts during a conference call on the results. “None of our markets are showing any signs of slowing down.”

Sales of fashion and leather goods grew by 14 percent in America, while watches and jewelry were up 32 percent. Overall, U.S. sales were up 12 percent.

Sales in Europe were strong across all the company’s categories: up 34 percent in watches and jewelry; 23 percent in wines and spirits; 20 percent in perfumes and cosmetics; and 11 percent for both selective retail and fashion and leather goods. Sales in local currency in Asia rose 14 percent, while Japan slipped 2 percent.