NewswireToday - /newswire/ - Brierley Hill, West Midlands, United Kingdom, 08/03/2011 - Swatch watches, the group behind luxury watch brands including Tissot and Omega watches have seen double digit sales growth in the past year suggesting that sluggish sales in some European nations and North America are not holding back growth for the comp.

Profits at the company jumped 23% in the first half of the year to £565 million suggesting better cost managements. Sales were also up by 11.4% from last year’s record.

Much of the growth appears to be driven by wealthy Chinese consumers snapping up the high status brands in the group including Omega watches. However, according to reports in The Daily Telegraph, growth had been noted in all markets and at all price points from Swatch to Omega watches.

The only exception to the generally positive picture was in debt-ravaged Spain and Greece. Lacklustre sales were also noted in Japan which suffered more pressing problems following the earthquake and tsunami earlier in the year.

Sales at online retailers such as thewatchhut.co.uk were also up on previous years offering hope for Christmas trading.

Encouragingly for the company the Annual Wealth Report published by Merrill Lynch last month showed that the world's high-net worth individuals had recovered in number and wealth to pre-crisis levels, giving them the confidence to spend again, particularly on luxury items.

The group has also joined the debate on the continuing over valuation of the Swiss Franc suggesting that the surging value of that currency could cost it a large amount of sales by making its watches seem expensive.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the group saw 387 million Swiss Francs taken from its first half profits due to the impact of currency fluctuations.
The results are exceptionally encouraging for the watch manufacturer as the first half of the year is traditionally a quieter period for the jewellery industry before it gears up for the Christmas sales period.

Agency / Source: The Jewel Hut

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