Richmond lost € 168 million suspending commercial activities in Russia while displaying otherwise outstanding performance in financial year ended 31 March 2022

Richmond, a Switzerland-based luxury goods holding reporting otherwise high performance for the financial year ended 31 March 2022, said that suspension of commercial activities in Russia resulted in the loss of € 168 million.  
“Sales during the year under review reached an all-time high of € 19.2 billion, a 46% increase over last year (+35% on a two-year comparative period) with all Maisons, channels and regions achieving double-digit growth, led by retail and the Americas (+79%). Sales in Asia Pacific rose by 32%, with mainland China sales growing by 20% compared to the prior year. The strong European client base more than offset subdued inbound tourism, leading to a 51% sales increase, while in the Middle East and Africa sales grew at a similar pace, surpassing Japan as the Group's fourth largest market, where sales rose albeit by 28%,” the company said in a press statement adding that “suspension of commercial activities in Russia resulted in € 168 million negative operating result impact.”
Richmond’s Jewellery Maisons, Buccellati, Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels, delivered a step-change in performance with combined sales exceeding € 11 billion and the operating margin reaching 34.3% versus 31.0% in the prior year. Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels posted an outstanding performance, increasing their market leadership. Buccellati also developed successfully, further expanding its international footprint with nine new directly-operated stores.
Another noteworthy achievement, Richmond said, relates to the Specialist Watchmakers’ strong sales rebound (+53%) to € 3.4 billion and operating margin recovery to 17.3%, with nearly all Maisons exceeding pre-pandemic sales levels. The Specialist Watchmakers reaped the benefits of direct-to-client sales exceeding 50%, achieved through continuous improvements in distribution, communication, notably on social media, and supply chain management. The increased appeal of high-quality watches to Millennials and Gen-Z is very positive for the future.
At the Group level, operating profit more than doubled to € 3.4 billion and the operating margin strengthened to 17.7%. This significant growth in operating profit, combined with careful management of working capital, led to cash flow from operating activities increasing to € 4.6 billion. Profit for the year rose by 61% to € 2.1 billion and net cash by 55% to € 5.2 billion at the end of March 2022.