Eighteen months ago, LVMH shares were trading at a record high and the group’s controlling shareholder, Bernard Arnault, was the world’s wealthiest person.
Fast forward to Wednesday and a slump in Chinese demand for Louis Vuitton bags, Dior gowns and other high-end fashion has wiped out more than €150 billion ($244 billion) in LVMH market capitalisation. Arnault’s fortune has been relegated to fifth place on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, which also shows that he has lost more money — $US37 billion ($55.5 billion) — during the period than anyone else on the ranking of the world’s 500 richest people.
LVMH chief Bernard Arnault, with wife Helene, has been working to make sure his company will stay firmly in his family’s hands.Credit: AP
The 75-year-old French founder’s net worth stood at about $US174.5 billion, according to the index, ahead of Bill Gates but well behind No. 1 Elon Musk and other mostly tech industry billionaires in the top 10 whose fortunes have all swelled by double-digit billions this year.
The downturn has dashed any prospect of a soft landing in luxury and the questions for investors have become how long the slump will last and whether the recovery will look anything like the good times that preceded it.
For the first time since the second quarter of 2020, when the world went into lockdown, LVMH’s fashion and leather goods unit posted a drop in quarterly organic sales.
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Since LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton is generally considered a bellwether for the wider sector, its sales potentially presage weaker results from smaller rivals such as Brunello Cucinelli SpA, Hermes International, Kering and L’Oreal, which will publish revenue updates this week and next. LVMH shares dropped as much as 7.5 per cent Wednesday to a two-year low, leading its competitors lower.
The geographical zone that includes China was the worst performer for LVMH, but the lack of growth in the US, the group’s second-largest region, shows the trouble is widespread. The company spooked investors with vague guidance amid risks ranging from Chinese economic growth to trade tensions.
“I’ve no idea,” LVMH chief financial officer Jean-Jacques Guiony said Tuesday when asked about the outlook. “The visibility of our business is as good as yesterday’s sales. We’ve been through ups and downs. The only thing we know, when the business is bad, usually it’s good thereafter. It’s a cyclical business.”