LVMH shares tumble as sales of luxury goods suffer

The chief executive officer of the world’s biggest luxury goods maker LVMH, Bernard Arnault, presents the group’s 2012 annual results on January 31, 2013 at company headquarters in Paris to .

AFP PHOTO / ERIC PIERMONT (Photo credit should read ERIC PIERMONT/AFP/Getty Images)

European stocks fell the most in a week as the world’s largest luxury goods maker saw shares tumble.

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Paris-based LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton dropped 6.8pc to €131.65, the most since August 2011, after saying first-half profit from recurring operations fell 5pc to €2.58bn euros.

Asian demand weakened in the second quarter, led by slower Chinese spending, political unrest in Hong Kong and sales tax in Japan, chief financial officer Jean-Jacques Guiony said.

The disappearance of a 
Malaysian passenger 
jet also affected sales in Singapore and Thailand.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index slid 0.7pc to 341.95 at the close of trading.

“Retail is hitting sentiment,” said Michael Woischneck, of Lampe Asset Management. “I was quite surprised by LVMH and didn’t see that profit miss coming. But we’re still not that far into the earnings season and this week has been fine, with quite a few companies reporting very good numbers. Banks are holding up quite well.”

In Dublin, the ISEQ closed at 4716.80, the lowest since Monday, down 23.90 points or half a percent. The main leaders included investment group TVC, up 21.5pc, and Kingspan, up 3pc, while packaging firm Smurfit Kappa and food firm Aryzta both dropped 3pc.

Stocks also declined the most in a week in London where the FTSE 100 fell 29.91 points, or 0.4pc, to 6,791.55.

Elsewhere, in the US, stocks fell as Amazon plunged 11pc after trailing analysts’ 
predictions. Visa also sank 4.8pc as it lowered its full-year revenue forecast.

The SP 500 slipped 0.6pc to 1,976.66 in New York by 
mid morning, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 147.51 points, or 0.9pc, to 16,936.29,

“The market is really looking at micro level numbers on a lot of these companies,” said Ian Kerrigan at JP Morgan.

Irish Independent

LVMH shares tumble as sales of luxury goods suffer