Luxury group Richemont has today reported a 14% increase in first- quarter sales, boosted by a strong rebound in Asia and demand for its high-end jewellery.
But the owner of Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels jewellery also pointed to a downturn in the Americas.
Richemont posted a 19% rise in organic sales which exclude the impact of currency movements while analysts expected 20%, Bernstein analyst Luca Solca noted.
"We would expect a muted reaction from the market to today's announcement," he said.
Richemont's Asia-Pacific business boomed, helped by the lifting of Covid-related restrictions and reopening of borders, pushing the company's sales 32% higher.
But the Americas, where concerns have risen in recent months about a slowdown in luxury demand in the US, saw sales fall 4%, said the company, which also owns several high-end watch brands.
"Negative growth in the Americas is likely to temper some of the market expectations," said Vontobel analyst Jean-Philippe Bertschy.
Overall, Richemont said its sales increased by 14% to €5.322 billion in the three months to the end of June.
That was short of the €5.43 billion expected by analysts at Barclays and €5.54 billion expected by analysts at Bank Vontobel. Richemont does not report first quarter profit.
The sales increase was led by jewellery, where revenue rose by 19% to €3.60 billion.
The company's specialist watchmakers, which include IWC, Piaget and Vacheron Constantin brands, posted a 6% increase in sales to €1.06 billion.
Rival Swiss watchmaker Swatch last week reported its highest ever half-year sales, buoyed by the removal of Covid-related restrictions in Asia.
Shares in the company have gained 53% in the last year.
