LVMH H1 sales growth

Luxury giant Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy has reported a 13 percent sales gain to €7 billion for the first six months period. It boasted “market share gains across the brands.� Underlying sales rose 12 percent, thanks to a continued strong performance of the fashion and leather goods arm. The Louis Vuitton and Fendi brands are still its bestsellers. The news has allayed fears that the luxury goods sector is showing a slowdown, particularly in the US . The results were slightly above analysts' expectations. The group reiterated that it expects “very significant growth in its results for 2006�. Antoine Belge, an analyst at HSBC, told the FT that the figures could counter investors' fears, stating that they had “overestimated� how badly a rise in US interest rates would affect luxury goods demand. Meanwhile, the watches and jewellery division grew 23 percent, led by Tag Heuer. The group said that there had been accelerated growth “in several Asian countries�, and attributed growth in Chinese tourism as a reason for the success of its retail operations.