SHANGHAI/PARIS : The luxury goods industry has relied heavily on China and North America for growth in recent years, but latest Chinese economic figures and a disappointing sales update from Cartier-owner Richemont suggest both markets may be starting to slow.
China's economy faltered in the second-quarter, however, prompting banks J.P.Morgan, Morgan Stanley and Citigroup to trim their growth forecasts for this year. China will"not be going through a V-shape demand recovery but rather a multi-year consumption catch-up at home and abroad," analysts at Citi predicted following a call with Richemont executives.
"The luxury industry seems to be outperforming the consumer market as a whole in China, but you know, really, almost everyone you speak to, there's a level of uncertainty," said Agility's managing director Amrita Banta. The spending slowdown in the United States largely reflects elevated prices, high interest rates and slowly deteriorating credit conditions. Those factors disproportionately affect"aspirational" luxury customers who can easily live without another Gucci bag or $900 pair of sneakers.
"In the trends that I'm seeing in the U.S. and also in China, more aspirational younger consumers are feeling more of a pain," Morningstar senior equity analyst Jelena Sokolova said.