Richemont falls after Swatch releases profit warning
ZURICH — Richemont fell 3% to R84.16 on the JSE on Friday morning after its competitor Swatch said its first-half profit would slide 50%-60% on dwindling sales in Hong Kong and Europe.Analysts warned that the deadly Bastille Day attack in Nice would hurt tourist sales for the foreseeable future.Swiss watchmakers are grappling with weak demand as fewer Chinese tourists shop for timepieces in Hong Kong and Europe and a strong Swiss franc pushes up the production cost for "Swiss made" watches.Swatch, the world’s biggest watchmaker said in a statement it expected sales to fall about 12% in the first half due to "important markets like Hong Kong and partially Europe, especially France and Switzerland, while mainland China develops positively".Shares in the group were indicated to open 9% lower, on top of a 17% fall this year and a 21% drop last year.The group said it would keep its staff and also maintain investments in new products and marketing, and pursue a defensive price increase po...
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