By Andrea Figueras


Cartier owner Richemont said Nicolas Bos, currently chief of its French jewelry brand Van Cleef & Arpels, will replace Jerome Lambert as its chief executive officer.

Bos--who joined Richemont in 1992--will take the CEO position at the Swiss luxury group and join its senior executive committee on June 1, the company said Friday.

Following the news on Friday, Lambert will return to his previous position as chief operating officer, although he will remain on the board.

Meanwhile, Richemont said it booked sales of 20.62 billion euros ($22.41 billion) for its fiscal year ended March 31, compared with EUR19.95 billion the year before. The result compares with analysts' forecasts of EUR20.56 billion, according to a poll of estimates compiled by FactSet.

For the final quarter, sales fell 1% in reported terms compared with the year-earlier period, implying a slowdown from the third quarter, when sales grew 4%.

The luxury industry experienced a boom in sales growth after the height of the pandemic, but the trend came to an end last year as high interest rates and inflation squeezed consumer spending.

Coupled with the wider slowdown, luxury companies are grappling with sluggish demand in China, as the country faces a prolonged downturn in the property sector as well as weak exports and consumer demand. Domestic economic woes and a slower-than-expected recovery there weighed on results, as China was the world's largest luxury market before the pandemic.

For the last three months of fiscal 2024, Richemont posted a 16% decline in sales in Asia-Pacific. "We experienced a softening of sales in the fourth quarter in Asia Pacific against challenging comparatives, which was more than offset by higher growth in all the other regions. As we predicted, a sustainable rebound in Chinese demand would take some time," Chairman Johann Rupert said.

Full-year operating profit was EUR4.79 billion, down from EUR5.03 billion previously, while the operating margin fell to 23.3% from 25.2%.

In 2016, Richemont decided to eliminate the role of CEO after it reported a sharp decline in first-half profit. Long-term CEO Richard Lepeu stepped down but wasn't replaced.

However, two years later the company returned to the traditional management structure and Lambert took the reigns of the group.


Write to Andrea Figueras at andrea.figueras@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

05-17-24 0313ET