Chinese athletes have been collecting plenty of gold in London. But their countrymen seem to be losing a taste for it. The latest sign of a Chinese luxury goods slowdown came from Richemont, the high end jeweller, yesterday.
Its terse statement was impressive on the surface – operating profits will rise between 20 and 40 per cent this year. But much of that is due to currency moves, and the range of potential profit growth suggests that Richemont is not confident enough to be more precise. And growth is slowing – sales before currency changes grew 20 per cent in April, but only 13 per cent across the April-June quarter.
Richemont is not alone. All kinds of luxury goods companies have been throwing their arms up in horror at the prospect of a Chinese consumer slowdown. On Friday, Hugo Boss said shoppers in the country were holding back and that Asian revenues in the second quarter were only 4 per cent up on the same period last year. The previous week LVMH said that first-half organic growth in its watches and jewellery business was just 4 per cent. Last month Burberry said that first-quarter sales growth had slowed from 30 per cent to 11 per cent.