Swiss watchmaker Swatch said it was 'confident' about the second half of the year following the release of first half results broadly in line with analyst expectations.
Business 'can be expected to continue to develop quite positively' in the second half, provided the foreign currency situation did not deteriorate significantly and the world is 'largely spared of exogenous shocks', Swatch said.
'Despite relatively uncertain political circumstances, fears of further terrorist attacks, and an uncertain outlook for the Swiss franc, consumer behaviour in Europe has stabilised and improved slightly, with larger growth being achieved in the US and Asia,' the Swiss luxury goods maker said.
First-half net profit rose 16.7% in the first half to 217m Swiss francs from 186m francs in the same period last year.
Earnings before interests and taxes rose 20% to 269m francs from 224m francs while sales grew 8.6% to 1.973 billion francs, against 1.816 billion.
