LVMH sees wine and spirit growth stall

LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton Has posted a revenue increase of 4% for the first nine months of 2014, however wine and spirits was its only business group not to achieve any growth.

The luxury goods conglomerate amassed a total revenue of €21.4 billion for the first nine months of 2014, with its organic revenue also growing by 4% compared to the same period in 2013.

However wine and spirits was the only area of the business which failed to record any growth.

Organic revenue within wines and spirits dropped by 3% in the first nine months of 2014.

This decline, LVMH said, reflected the slowdown in China’s Cognac market, adding however that Hennessy had benefited from “excellent momentum” in the United States.

The group said Champagne had continued to “perform well” driven largely by the American and Japanese markets.

“All business groups grew except Wines & Spirits which continues to be affected by de-stocking by distributors in China”, the group said in a statement today.

“With [overall] organic revenue growth of 4% in the third quarter, the trend remains comparable to that recorded in the first half of the year. An improved growth rate in Europe and the United States during the quarter compensated for the slowdown observed in Asia.”