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PARIS, France — Hermès International SCA, the French maker of Kelly bags and silk scarves, raised its full-year sales target after strong growth in fashion, accessories and perfumes.
Annual revenue growth could exceed 11 percent at constant exchange rates, Paris-based Hermès said today in a statement, adjusting an earlier forecast of more than 10 percent growth.
Ready-to-wear clothing and fragrances were outperformers in the third quarter, when sales advanced 13 percent, excluding currency shifts, Hermès said. Total sales in the period rose only 5.5 percent, missing estimates, because of the weakness of the Japanese yen against the euro.
“All in all, good results,” said Mario Ortelli, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein. “If the company makes such a guidance means they are confident about the market environment and the strength of the Hermès brand.”
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Hermès fell 0.5 percent to 252.80 euros at 5:17 p.m. in Paris, little changed to prior to the announcement.
“The ready-to-wear and accessories sector posted a remarkable performance,” boosting revenue by 20 percent, Hermès said in the statement. Fragrance revenue advanced 15 percent, while watches returned to growth with a 1 percent increase.
The company repeated previous guidance that the full-year operating margin could be close to the record 32.1 percent of 2012, depending on currency fluctuations.
Total third-quarter sales were 895.5 million euros ($1.21 billion), compared with the 908 million-euro median of nine analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg.
By Andrew Roberts; Editors: Celeste Perri, Paul Jarvis.
