LVMH Confident In Recovery As China Confirms Rebound
Chairman and CEO Bernard Arnault reported strong signs of an upturn in activity since June.
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LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton saw a strong rebound in China in the second quarter and expects a gradual return to normal elsewhere in the second half, supported by the solid performance of its top brands, Louis Vuitton and Dior, and a jump in online sales.
The French luxury conglomerate says net profit plummeted 84 per cent in the first six months of the year, after the COVID-19 pandemic forced the closure of many of its stores and factories worldwide and grounded travellers, who account for 40 per cent of luxury goods purchases in value terms, according to analysts.
“I do not think we have ever seen such a perfectly negative alignment of planets against us,” LVMH chief financial officer Jean-Jacques Guiony says on a conference call. But the outlook is brightening for the group, which has seen continuous improvements since the lifting of lockdown measures in many countries.
“The month of June was significantly better, and July will certainly see some improvement compared to June,” Guiony says. “We see, month after month, the situation coming back to a more normalised state and we expect this to continue.”
Bernard Arnault, chairman and chief executive officer of LVMH, noted the group had shown “exceptional resilience” during the health crisis. “While we have observed strong signs of an upturn in activity since June, we remain very vigilant for the rest of the year,” he says in a statement.
“Thanks to the strength of our brands and the responsiveness of our organization, we are confident that LVMH is in an excellent position to take advantage of the recovery, which we hope will be confirmed in the second half of the year, and to strengthen our lead in the global luxury market in 2020,” he adds.
LVMH, which owns 75 brands ranging from Dom Pérignon Champagne to Bulgari jewellery, reported that sales fell 38 per cent in the three months to June 30, following a 15 per cent drop in the first quarter. In organic terms, sales were also down 38 per cent, beating the Bloomberg consensus forecast for a 42 per cent fall.
Organic sales in the second quarter were down 54 per cent in Europe and Japan, while the U.S. saw a 39 per cent drop. Asia, excluding Japan, performed comparatively better, with a 13 per cent decline.
LVMH’s net profit totalled 522 million euros in the first half, with Louis Vuitton, Dior and Moët Hennessy remaining highly profitable. But the group’s gross margin took a hit, due to the depreciation of unsold products and its inability to absorb all the fixed costs of its manufacturing activities.
Most segments recorded losses during the period, with the exception of the key fashion and leather goods division, as well as wines and spirits. Selective retailing — which includes Sephora and DFS, LVMH’s travel-retail business — was hardest-hit, with a loss from recurring operations of 308 million euros in the first half.
Fashion and leather goods posted sales of 3.35 billion euros in the second quarter, down 37 per cent in like-for-like terms, broadly in line with expectations. The division posted growth of more than 65 per cent in China, while sales in Europe and the U.S. saw a progressive recovery from May.
In the U.S. and Japan, Dior sales rose in June while Vuitton was broadly flat. “I think this is very encouraging for the future,” Guiony says.
Dior has staged a series of high-profile events, including a physical fashion show in Italy for its cruise collection — albeit without the usual guests — and the opening of its travelling exhibition, “Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams,” in Shanghai on Tuesday.
Vuitton, meanwhile, is gearing up to present its spring 2021 men’s collection with fashion shows, open to the public, in Shanghai and Tokyo.
Sales of perfume and cosmetics were down 40 per cent against a backdrop of significant destocking by retailers, with LVMH refraining from selling through parallel distribution channels. In the second half, Fresh will open concept stores in China with new services, and Loewe will launch a line of home fragrances.
Guiony says it was too early to extrapolate any forecasts from the global spike in online sales during the lockdown, although he indicated a shift in LVMH’s attitude to e-commerce, which it has traditionally been reluctant to engage in.
”We are very pleased with the business we’ve done on the digital front, particularly in Sephora and in fashion and leather goods, and to a lesser extent in perfumes and cosmetics. It has enabled us to offset part of the lost business in regular distribution channels, so it is encouraging for the future,” he says.
“When I see the amount of business that we’ve been able to generate in the last six months on our e-commerce platform, I think there is a future for these platforms to generate a significant amount of the global sales and to be a real and genuine distribution channel, alongside the brick-and-mortar,” Guiony adds.
The watches and jewellery division recorded a 52 per cent drop in organic revenue, even though Bulgari saw a strong recovery in China in the second quarter. Meanwhile, organic sales of wines and spirits were down 33 per cent, with cognac benefiting from a rebound in sales in China and resilient U.S. demand.
In the selective retailing division, revenues fell 38 per cent even as Sephora gained market share and saw strong increases in online sales. DFS was focused on cutting costs and gradually reopening its downtown stores in Venice, Macau and Hong Kong.
“Our top brands have not disappointed — all profitable; less revenue drops than peers; outstanding margins; market share gains; well-positioned to become stronger in the crisis, which is exactly what leaders should do,” Guiony says.
“We are optimistic and confident, although there are two things we should not forget in order to be able to react quickly to any change in the environment. First, the resolution of the sanitary crisis lacks visibility and we cannot rule out further difficulties here and there. And two, the travel retail business is and will be suffering for a number of months and quarters before it comes back to normal,” he adds.
While LVMH plans to slash its capital expenditures budget by 40 per cent this year, it expects to keep its workforce largely intact. “There is no such thing as massive reduction in headcount. There could be some adjustments here and there, but nothing particularly significant,” says Guiony.
“It would be stupid on our side to adjust too much — be it the capital base, the human base, or even to streamline too much some brands — because when things recover, we want to be in good shape to benefit from that,” he explains.
The executive gave a brief update on LVMH’s approx. $22 billion acquisition of U.S. jeweller Tiffany & Co., saying half-a-dozen antitrust filings were still pending, though he did not specify in which countries. “Things are moving forward,” Guiony says. “But I don’t really know when all the go-aheads will be given.”
He also declined to estimate the potential impact of U.S. tariffs on French fashion goods, including handbags. “Some are pending, some are threatened. It’s very difficult to make any assessment,” he noted. “It’s a likelihood, that’s right, but it’s not the first time that something like this doesn’t happen at the end of the day.”
Analysts expect the group to outperform the rest of the luxury sector, despite an unfavourable geographic mix.
“LVMH is more exposed to the U.S. market, which will be particularly hit by the delayed lifting of lockdown,” Morgan Stanley noted in a recent research report. The U.S. accounted for 24 per cent of the luxury group’s revenues in the first half.
But LVMH was likely to benefit from a “flight to quality” as consumers seek the reassurance of mighty brands like Vuitton, Dior, Fendi and Celine, and gravitate toward classic and bourgeois brands over edgy labels.
“Consumers tend to want to buy products, which are less likely to depreciate in value over time, but also generally want a less ostentatious look,” says Morgan Stanley analysts Edouard Aubin and Elena Mariani.
The LVMH results come on the heels of figures from Compagnie Financière Richemont showing sales fell 47 per cent in the three months to June 30 due to store and workshop closures, anemic tourism and a lack of appetite for hard and soft luxury worldwide during the pandemic.
Meanwhile, Burberry reported retail sales fell 48.4 per cent in the first quarter ended June 27, despite a powerful rebound in the key markets of mainland China and South Korea. Kering is scheduled to publish its second-quarter results on Tuesday, with Hermès International to follow on Thursday.
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First Drive: Bentley’s Flying Spur Speed Is a Muscular Heavyweight That Sets a New Benchmark
The most cumbersome part of the marque’s most powerful sedan to date is perhaps the infotainment system.
“Remember, it’s 25 years in jail for damaging a cactus,” warns Wayne Bruce, communications czar for Bentley Motors Limited, as he tosses us the keys to the marque’s newest and most powerful four-door ever, the fourth-generation Bentley Flying Spur Speed. Sufficiently admonished, we’re set loose from the veranda of the Four Seasons Scottsdale and into the foothills of the Sonoran Desert. We have no plans to damage local flora, but beneath the sophisticated lines and refined amenities of the vehicle lurks a beast begging to be unleashed on this cacti-flanked thoroughfare.
Bentley’s Beyond 100+ strategy, geared toward greater sustainability, has a number of components underway as incoming CEO Frank-Steffen Walliser takes the helm. Primary among these is the brand’s first all-electric model, due in 2026. The Flying Spur Speed—a Dr. Jekyll-and-Mr. Hyde of a car—is a bridge between the old Bentley and the new, a model variant that must compensate for the loss of its W12 engine.
The new all-wheel-drive Flying Spur Speed comes equipped with a plug-in-hybrid power train comprising a 4.0-litre twin-turbo V-8 and an electric motor. The pairing delivers a total of 574 kilowatts, an acceleration time of zero to 96 kph in 3.3 seconds, a top speed of 284 mph, and 75 kilometres of electric range. It’s also the first Flying Spur to get four-wheel steering.
My driving companion, Kristin, and I depart the hotel in Bentley mode, the automaker’s eponymous default setting, and—first things first—begin scrolling through the manifold touch screen controls to customise the individual climate and postural settings for our quilted, hand-stitched leather seats.
The car purports to “measure and maintain the perfect body temperature via zoned heating and ventilation.” It shouldn’t take long for the Flying Spur to learn about us. I tend toward freezing, whereas Kristin veers the other way, mentioning, “I’m a 53-year-old woman. I’m always hot.”
At least the functionality should eliminate any fighting over climate control. But we are equally intrigued by Bentley’s twist on seating comfort: a postural adjustment feature that the automaker claims “soothingly and seamlessly varies the pressure on the occupants’ muscles throughout their journey” to minimise fatigue. This sounds promising. As our route to Sedona and back is a circuitous mix of surface streets, highways, and twisty canyon roads, the prospect of traveling the 482 miles without a nap seems unlikely.
“Sitting consistently the whole time—that’s what gives you a numb bum,” says Bentley spokesman Mike Sayer, explaining more about the seating system. “It’s about blood flow. If that seat is very slowly changing shape underneath you, that [numbing] never happens.”
A look at the V-8 engine inside Bentley’s hybrid Flying Spur Speed.
The 4.0-litre twin-turbo V-8 pairs with an electric motor for a combined output of 574 kilowatts James Lipman, courtesy of Bentley Motors Limited
Leaving Scottsdale, Kristin and I get to work, so consumed with jabbing at the car’s cumbersome, 31 cm touchscreen that we hardly notice the car seems to be doing the driving for us. “Cruise control isn’t engaged?” I asked. “No,” Kristin replies. “I’m not even touching the pedals.” Yet there are no preternatural powers at play here, as this particular street features a long, imperceptible descent that requires no throttle input, a fact we learn only later.
James Lipman, courtesy of Bentley Motors Limited
That, though, is the point of the Flying Spur Speed. Like its two-door Bentley Continental GT Speed sibling, it benefits from the automaker’s most advanced chassis ever. On exhibition is Bentley’s suite of performance enhancements that includes the aforementioned four-wheel steering as well as active all-wheel drive, torque vectoring, an electronic limited-slip differential, and twin-chamber air springs.
“Then we have our little secret weapon,” says Bruce: a twin-valve damper sitting within the air springs. The independent control over compression and rebound damping means that Bentley can improve the Flying Spur’s Comfort mode without sacrificing performance.
James Lipman, courtesy of Bentley Motors Limited
As we near Sedona, we toggle between chassis settings, observing for differences in ride quality. We alternate between Comfort, which loosens the dampers to absorb bumps on the road, and Sport, which stiffens the suspension and uses active all-wheel drive to send more power to the rear axle. We also drop it into EV mode, which activates at speeds up to 140 kph. And best yet, plugging in is optional. The new Flying Spur comes with a charge mode that allows the engine to fully replenish the battery even while driving.
This new dual-character Bentley leaves us with no reason to bemoan the loss of its gas-guzzling W12 engine. True, the hybrid version is heavier, but it delivers a surprisingly nimble yet planted ride, and requires less time spent topping off the tank.
Kristin and I had no qualms about the performance—even though I did find the postural adjustment at times abrupt and bordering upon naughty—but considered the car’s main kink to be the infotainment system, which shut off the navigation just before important turns, obfuscated the menus we wanted, and continually stopped its job to nose its way into our private conversations. Didn’t we almost have it all?
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Porsche Design Tower Bangkok in Photos
The automotive icon has announced plans for a 21-story residential building in Thailand. Set for completion by 2028, the 21-story building will house 22 “Sky Villas” priced from $23 million to $60 million.
For some time now, branded residences by household names like Armani and Fendi have attracted those with a lust for designer luxury. Car makers have entered the real estate market, too, with unique offerings by Bugatti and Bentley as well as Porsche Design, which has launched residential towers in Stuttgart, Germany, and Miami, Florida. The German lifestyle brand, founded by Ferdinand Alexander Porsche, creator of the iconic Porsche 911, now has plans to take their real estate endeavours to Asia.
This month, the company unveiled its third real estate development, a collaboration with Ananda Development, a Thailand-based developer, to introduce the Porsche Design Tower Bangkok. Construction on the 21-story tower begins next year and is set to wrap by the end of 2028. The ultra-luxury condo will be located on Sukhumvit 38, one of the most prestigious addresses in Bangkok.
Photo: @Porsche Design
“The Porsche Design Tower Bangkok is the next big thing for Porsche in Southeast Asia,” says Lutz Meschke, Deputy Chairman of the Executive Board at Porsche AG, in a statement. The region is becoming increasingly important for us, which is highlighted by major events taking place here these days. To name just one example: in January we celebrated the world premiere of the new all-electric Macan in Singapore.”
The tower’s striking design, as seen in renderings, is inspired by the kinetic movement of the 911 Targa roof mechanism, according to a press release. Its exposed pedestal structure, called “X-Frame,” takes cues from the design of the auto brand’s Mission R concept car and its exoskeleton structured to create a unique entry experience. A vibrant red light strip crowns the building, mirroring light displays on Porsche’s iconic sports cars.
The tower will house 22 exclusive duplex and quadplex “Sky Villas,” aimed at attracting “ultra-high net-worth individuals,” according to a press release. The abodes will range from 5,651 to 12,217 square feet, with a price range of $23 million to $60 million.
Owners can expect to find luxury furnishings and high-end appliances throughout the residences and the building that evoke the car company’s commitment to elegance, power and flawless craftsmanship.
The complex’s many amenities will include an 82-foot-long swimming pool, fitness center, spa, social lounge, and a luxury garage with “passion spaces,” similar to showrooms, that can be tailored to the individual liking of residents. Upscale restaurants and shopping malls are located nearby for a variety of entertainment options.
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How to Make a Gimlet, the Gin and Lime Cordial Cocktail That’s Perfect for Summer
It will also keep scurvy at bay, which is nice.
“Why on earth this stroke of genius stands unheralded and unsung in this fair and allegedly free land of ours shall, to us, always be a mystery…” –Charles Baker Jr., The Gentleman’s Companion: An Exotic Drinking Book
The above was published in 1939, when the author, an American food writer travelling through Asia, first discovered the Gimlet. This is honestly a fairly common reaction to a well-made Gimlet, and the only major thing that’s changed in the last 80 years is that while we didn’t know why it wasn’t more popular then, we know exactly why the Gimlet is not more popular now. The answer is a saccharine, highlighter-yellow liquid that can be found entombed in plastic on the bottom shelf of every liquor store in this country called Rose’s Sweetened Lime Juice.
Rose’s Sweetened Lime Juice, a.k.a. Rose’s Lime Cordial, wasn’t always this way. It started as medicine and was literally lifesaving technology when a Scot named Lauchlin Rose invented it in the mid 1800s. Before then—basically, from the beginning of human sea-travel until about 150 years ago—the biggest threat to a mariner wasn’t pirates or sharks or sea-madness but scurvy, which claimed some 2 million sailors between the 16th and 18th centuries. We now know scurvy is caused by about three months without any vitamin C, but it took millennia to figure that out. Once we did, there was still the problem of preservation, because some other forms of preservation (things like boiling it or storing it in copper) are, as it turns out, incredibly efficient ways to destroy the vitamin C. It was ultimately Rose who figured out a way to preserve lime juice with sugar in 1867, the same year the Merchant Shipping Act decreed that all British sailors must have an ounce of lime juice in their rations every day. Rose’s new “lime cordial” fortified the entire British Royal Navy against scurvy, all at the mere cost of suffering the nickname “limeys” for the rest of time.
The Gimlet fits into this like so: The sailors drank rum, but the officers drank gin. A shot of lime juice is some fairly unpleasant business, but alcohol seems to help the medicine go down, so one story is that it was Rear-Admiral Sir Thomas Gimlette who first took his Rose’s Lime Cordial with a spot of gin. Another story is that the Gimlet was named for the metal tool used for opening the barrels to get the alcohol out. In either case, we meet the Gimlet officially in 1923, in Harry MacElhone’s ABC of Mixing Cocktails as equal parts Plymouth Gin and Rose’s Lime Juice Cordial. Fifteen years later Mr. Baker (above) calls it a “stroke of genius.”
So why aren’t Gimlets more popular now? Because Rose’s has become a zombified version of itself, embalmed with high-fructose corn syrup and sodium metabisulfate, and is now one of 125+ brands owned by the gargantuan Keurig Dr. Pepper group. This is a problem, because while you need a lime cordial to make a proper Gimlet, Rose’s is explicitly the type of mass market, highly processed bullshit that the whole “mixology” thing was resurrected to combat. It helped get us to where we are—Lord knows I made my share of Mojitos with Rose’s in those dark and early days—but fortunately for all of us, we now have a better way, because fresh cordials are quick, easy, and savagely delicious.
If a Gimlet with Rose’s is the speaker on your phone, a Gimlet with a fresh cordial is a concert hall. It’s like tasting in technicolor, what was a chemical note of lime now a chord of acidity, piquant and resonant. A good Gimlet is bright and full, sharp and piercing, with a clarity that sings no matter what gin you choose. To try a good one is to really get what Baker was talking about, or to see why Chandler and Hemingway wrote the Gimlet into their fiction, or to understand the type of joy that comes from knowing you won’t die from scurvy, after all.
Gimlet
- 60 ml. gin
- 40 ml. lime cordial
Add ingredients to a cocktail shaker with ice and shake hard for 10 to 12 seconds. Strain off the ice either up into a cocktail glass or else onto fresh ice in a rocks glass, and garnish with a lime wheel or peel.
NOTES ON INGREDIENTS
Gin: As mentioned, use whatever gin you like. Some gin cocktails have ingredients which strongly prefer one brand over another—the raspberries in a Clover Club, for example, uniquely complement the rose petals in something like Hendrick’s—but here we’re just dealing with gin and lime, and all gins will go well with lime. My perennial favorite for shaken gin drinks is Beefeater, which indeed works great. You could also take a note from both the original recipe and from Naval history and make it with Plymouth Gin, which works fantastically well in both its standard (41.2 percent) bottling and its Navy Strength (57 percent).
Lime Cordial: There’s lots of ways to make a lime cordial, and as your faithful servants we’ve made / bought every single one we could find and tried them in side-by-side to determine the best. Our surprise and breakaway favorite was a cordial developed by Portland bartender Jeffrey Morgenthaler, which has the perfect balance of full lime flavor and sharp zesty edge. It requires getting some citric acid, which sounds intimidating but is natural and abundant and about $10 next day on Amazon (recipe below). If you absolutely insist on not making your own cordial, a good option was to just make the Gimlet using fresh ingredients (2 oz. gin, 1 oz. lime juice, 30 ml. simple syrup) and throw a lime peel into the shaker to shake with the ice. It lacks the cordial’s intensity, but the extra zestiness helps.
What’s great about the cordial is that not only is this spectacular with gin, it’s delicious with literally any clear spirit: tequila, vodka, rum, you name it. The sweet and sour of it is already balanced, so you can just add soda for a quick and easy limeade, or use it as a starting point for your own creativity (i.e. a Raspberry Pisco Gimlet is what happens when you add three raspberries to the shaker tin and use pisco instead of gin). The cordial will last in the fridge for at least a month and in the video above, I show you my favorite way to make, but here’s the complete recipe below.
Lime Cordial Recipe
Recipe from jeffreymorgenthaler.com
- 220 grams. white sugar
- 240 ml of warm or hot water
- 40 ml. fresh lime juice
- Zest of 2 medium or 1 large lime
- 30 grams citric acid
Zest the lime and put the lime zest into a blender. Juice the zested lime(s) into the blender, then add the sugar, water, and citric acid. After blending on medium speed for 30 seconds, strain with a fine strainer. Bottle and refrigerate or mix a cocktail immediately, if you so choose.
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Gut Samaritans
Other top clinics around the globe are also offering microbiome-oriented remedies. Here are four to book.
ANANDA IN THE HIMALAYAS India
Using a more natural approach, Ananda in the Himalayas heals the gut, among other problem areas, through ayurvedic treatments and medicine with a holistic program overseen by a senior ayurvedic physician specialising in gastro health and metabolic disorders. The spa is ensconced in a former palace in the foothills near Rishikesh, making the location just as relaxing. From around $1,235 per night for seven- or 14-night programs
LANSERHOF SYLT Germany
On the weathered island known as the Hamptons of Hamburg, the year-old Lanserhof Sylt boasts a team of medical experts specialising in cardiology, neurology and dermatology, among other fields. Its gastrointestinal package includes a sonogram of the entire abdomen and comprehensive stool examinations. From around $6,940 for a one-week program, not including accommodations, which begin at around $1,145 per night
RAKXA Thailand
This integrative wellness retreat in Thailand has a seven-night gut-health program that blends medical technology with traditional regimens. Treatments include colon hydrotherapy and chi nei tsang (a form of abdominal massage); guests also undergo a food-intolerance test and leave with a month’s worth of supplements. From around $16,890 for a seven-night program
ARO HA New Zealand
The Revive & Thrive program here nurtures vibrancy with gut-focused, detoxifying plant-based meals. Guests enjoy nutrient-rich plates that support the gut-brain connection, enhancing overall wellbeing from the inside out. From around $6,950 for five nights.
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Upcycle Your Vacation
For merging serious riding with high-end hospitality, Le Blanq isn’t the only game in town. Here are a few others to consider.
When it comes to merging serious riding with high-end hospitality, LeBlanq isn’t the only game in town. if you are up for unapologetically indulgent weekends of eating, drinking and riding we have collected a few other travel operators to consider for your next cycling holiday abroad.
The Slow Cyclist
The reassuringly named company was founded by British author Oli Broom, who spent 412 days riding—via 23 countries—from London to Brisbane to watch a few games of cricket (and raise money for charity). The company is part of the “slow travel” movement, which aims to minimise your impact on local communities while maximising your engagement with them—and what better way to do so than arriving by bike. The Slow Cyclist will put you on two wheels in locations you might never have considered, from the mountains of Transylvania to the volcanoes, lakes and gorilla-filled wilds of Rwanda.
Cycling for Softies
As its name suggests, Cycling for Softies focuses unabashedly on the luxury hotels and Michelin-starred dining that punctuate its easy trips (e-bike optional)—“a gâteau in every château”, in the words of author and client Kathy Lette. The company operates in five European countries, with itineraries traversing the regions with the best comestibles, whether Provence or Portugal’s Douro Valley. Your bags are transported between hotels each day, and you ride at your own pace, following an app that even details the best cake stops en route.
Sportive Breaks
If you want to go harder than even LeBlanq can offer, Sportive Breaks will fast-track you into the most sought-after events of the year. From L’Étape du Tour, in which “civilians” take on a hard mountain stage of the Tour de France, to the roughly 314-km-long Mallorca 312 and other spectacular closed-road, mass-participation events (known as sportive rides), this specialist eases the logistical pain, if not the physical. Our pick? The slightly gentler annual Strade Bianche, whose 87 and 142 km routes over the white-gravel roads of Tuscany are bucket-list stuff for many.
Butterfield & Robinson
Established nearly 60 years ago, Butterfield & Robinson is the OG of the luxury cycling world. A coterie of loyal and well-heeled clients has followed the Canadian company into new fields, from safaris to superyacht charters, but bike trips remain its beating heart. Don’t bother packing energy gels or even your wheels: the aim here is seamless, stress-free travel, with itineraries curated by a firm with more experienced hands and likely a broader range of destinations— covering Europe, Asia, South America and Africa—than anyone else.
Trek Travel
The travel wing of the behemoth Wisconsin-based bike maker is your go-to for North American trips, with itineraries in 18 US states, Canada, Australia, Chile and Japan, and can organise custom private vacations for as few as one rider. As an official affiliate of the Tour de France and a team sponsor, Trek also offers excursions that follow the greatest race at a gentler pace: for around $17,000, you get six nights in top hotels in Nice and Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, with VIP access to the final stage of this year’s event.
