After enduring almost a quarter-trillion dollar hit to their market value in recent months, Europe’s luxury firms may see their stock-market clout wane further as China’s downturn worsens.
Once seen as Europe’s answer to the US “Magnificent Seven” tech megacaps, shares in companies producing high-end clothing, handbags and jewellery are languishing, sapped by a spending slump. Even more ominous are signs that China’s rich, who once flocked to upscale boutiques in Paris, Milan and Hong Kong, may not return, their appetite for pricey items extinguished by the economy’s downward spiral.
“This year is more volatile and more painful because it comes after this excessive growth,” Flavio Cereda, an investment manager at GAM UK Ltd. said, referring to the period immediately after the pandemic when consumers liberated from lockdowns splurged on shopping and travel.
For Britain’s iconic raincoat maker Burberry Group Plc, it’s culminating in ejection from London’s FTSE 100 stock index, with its market value down 70 percent in the past year. While it’s the only major brand to lose its index slot, an gauge of luxury shares compiled by Goldman Sachs has shed $240 billion in value from a March peak. Read More
Swiss Watchmakers Seek State Aid Amid Luxury Downturn
Swiss luxury watchmakers are turning to the government for financial aid to help them weather a downturn in demand.
Girard-Perregaux and Ulysse Nardin have become the first brands to confirm they’re using a state program to retain jobs and avoid permanent cuts. Sowind Group, which owns the two manufacturers, has put about 50, or 15%, of its 320 workers on so-called short-time work or furlough, according to Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Patrick Pruniaux. https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/luxury-slump-leads-some-swiss-watchmakers-to-seek-state-aid/87487818