LVMH's profits have grown by 156% in the last year

Yesterday, the LVMH group presented during a video-meeting the report on profits for the year 2021 revealing a record performance, which beat analysts' expectations by about two billion, with an increase in net profits of 156% on an annual basis, a number that corresponds to 12 billion euros. Performance also improved by 68% compared to 2019. Also compared to the year before the pandemic, considered a benchmark for the economic recovery of the large luxury conglomerates, LVMH's fashion and leather goods divisions recorded a 75% increase in profits this year with Louis Vuitton and Dior in the lead and with record performances for Celine, Fendi and Tiffany & Co. And if the growth of luxury appears slow but steady in Europe, the United States and China have grown, in the last quarter, respectively by 30% and 40% compared to the last quarter of 2019 signaling the two superpowers as the driving forces of the luxury industry. After a tribute to the memory of Virgil Abloh, Arnault said that the merit of this performance is «first and foremost to Louis Vuitton, which is far more than just a fashion company. In fact, it’s not a fashion company. It’s a culturally creative company».

During the video conference, Arnault also spoke about the metaverse expressing a caution that bordered on skepticism:  «It’s a purely virtual world and until now, we are in the real world and we sell real products. To be sure, it’s compelling, it’s interesting, it can even be quite fun. […] If it’s well done, it can probably have a positive impact on brands’ activities. But we’re not interested in selling virtual sneakers for 10 euros.  In conclusion, I would just say, beware of bubbles. I remember this from the early days of the internet, at the beginning of the 2000s: there were a bunch of would-be Facebooks back then, and in the end, only one of them worked out. So let’s be cautious». 

The president of the group, continued to speak indirectly about his vision of the industry, dispensing allusions left and right. After alluding at the brands that have so far launched into the sale of virtual products, Arnault has not spared even Chanel, saying that LVMH does not want «to give the impression, like some brands do, of heading toward prices that no longer match the economic reality of the price of the products. [...] We try to be reasonable so that our customers feel that they’re dealing with brands that offer them something realistic, and not something that is artificially inflated».