Hermes hails ‘very good quarter’ as shoppers brush off economic gloom

Rich pickings: Supermodel Heidi Klum with her Birkin bag

Hermes hailed a ‘very good quarter’ as wealthy shoppers brushed off economic doom and gloom to buy its £5,000 handbags. 

The Paris-based Birkin bag maker said sales hit £2.75billion in the three months to October, a third higher than a year earlier. 

The luxury goods group said the performance reflected the ‘desirability’ of its products.

It was also driven by a bumper performance in China, despite some store closures caused by the country’s strict zero-Covid policy. 

Hermes said despite political and financial uncertainty, it is ‘ambitious’ about the coming years. 

Victoria Scholar, head of investment at Interactive Investor, said Hermes’s ‘wealthy customer base is largely immune to the cost-of-living crisis’. 

She said it is able to put up prices in response to soaring inflation with ‘little to no impact’ on demand. 

Hermes has flagged plans to push up prices by between 5 per cent and 10 per cent in 2023. 

• Pernod Ricard – whose drink brands include Jameson and Ballantine’s – said sales hit £2.9billion in the same period, an 11 per cent jump from last year, and also hailed a strong performance in China. And it said the ongoing recovery in international travel saw shoppers snap up its products at duty-free stores in airports.