LVMH shares soar after revenue growth accelerates

Shares in LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE jumped in early trading Friday after the luxury-goods giant said revenue growth continued to accelerate at the end of 2021, leading to a higher annual profit.

At 0813 GMT, the shares were trading 3.4% higher at EUR 717.60, which had risen as high as EUR 733.90 early in the session.

The French conglomerate said on Thursday evening that total sales came to 64.22 billion euros $72.19bn - up 14% from EUR 53.67 billion in 2019 - confirming the company's pandemic recovery. According to a FactSet-compiled consensus, analysts had predicted total sales of EUR 62.51 billion. Revenues were 22% higher in the fourth quarter than in the same period in the previous quarter, accelerating from an 11% increase in the previous quarter. The core fashion- and leather division again drove growth, booking more than 50% more revenue over the two years, LVMH said. The results of LVMH suggest that the group has room for further recovery, with the selective retail and perfume and cosmetics divisions still lagging behind 2019's results, according to Bernstein analyst Luca Solca. The operating margin climbed to 26.7% of revenue, which was nearly triple the year's net profit. LVMH said it is confident in 2022 that it will keep up with the pace of growth.