Luxury group LMVH told investors that growing demand in China helped bolster sales in the last quarter of 2018, bucking the trend of other industry leaders such as Apple and Samsung that are suffering under the Chinese economic slowdown, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Total sales reached 46.8 billion euros worldwide last year, LMVH said in a call with analysts, reporting particularly strong performance from its Louis Vuitton handbags and cognac labels.
The company added that Chinese purchases picked up in the final three months of the year, and that sales in Asia grew 15% during the quarter compared with a year earlier.
This puts LMVH at odds with the wider consumer sector, which has been stung by pessimism from investors bracing for a slowdown in China. The dumping of luxury stocks intensified after the likes of Apple lowered their earnings targets for the year, citing weaker Chinese demand.