{"id":847953,"date":"2026-01-15T11:08:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-15T09:08:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=847953"},"modified":"2026-05-22T08:16:33","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T06:16:33","slug":"johann-ruperts-r19-trillion-luxury-giant-is-killing-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/business\/847953\/johann-ruperts-r19-trillion-luxury-giant-is-killing-it\/","title":{"rendered":"Johann Rupert’s luxury giant is killing it"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Johann Rupert-controlled Richemont has experienced a significant increase in sales in the final quarter of 2025. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rupert owns approximately 10% of Richemont’s equity but holds over 50% of the voting rights, thereby exerting control over the company. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The majority of Rupert’s fortune is tied to his stake in the Switzerland-based luxury retailer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The company has seen a strong end of 2025, with group sales rising by 11% in the final three months of the year compared to Q4 2024. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Richemont stated that all regions experienced solid growth, led by double-digit performances in the Americas, Japan, and the Middle East & Africa, against already demanding comparables in the comparable period. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

America’s ongoing strength in local demand drove a 14% rise in sales, with all business areas and all main markets contributing to the regional performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Europe, sales increased by 8%, driven by local demand and supportive tourist spending, particularly from North American and Middle Eastern clients.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The company’s Jewellery Maisons, Specialist Watchmakers, and fashion and accessories Maisons all performed positively over the quarter. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most markets saw robust growth, especially in the UK and Italy. The Middle East and Africa posted the highest regional development, with sales up 20%, led by the strength in the UAE market. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Asia Pacific sales increased by 6%, with Japan recording a massive 17% increase, primarily driven by Jewellery Maisons. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

All distribution channels contributed to the sales growth, with sales through the retail channel growing the most at 12%, with broad-based strength across regions and business areas. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although retail represented 72% of Group sales, wholesale sales still rose by 9%, led by double-digit performances at both Jewellery Maisons and Specialist Watchmakers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Best brands<\/h2>\n\n\n
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The group’s four jewellery Maisons, Buccellati, Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels and Vhernier, delivered a 14% increase in sales, with a successful festive season across all the Maisons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Both jewellery and watch categories grew strongly, led by iconic lines and fuelled by attractive novelties and impactful communication,” said Richemont. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Specialist Watchmakers reported a second consecutive positive quarter, with sales up 7% and growth across all regions, including double-digit performances in the Americas and the Middle East & Africa. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The group’s other business area, which includes Fashion & Accessories Maisons, recorded stable sales against an 11% growth rate in the prior year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Watchfinder & Co. experienced double-digit growth, while sales at Fashion & Accessories Maisons increased by 3%, with notable momentum from Peter Millar and Gianvito Rossi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When looking at the nine-month trading period ended 31 December 2025, sales increased by 10% at constant exchange rates and by 5% at actual rates. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At constant exchange rates, growth was broad-based across all regions, channels and business areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The group\u2019s net cash position as of 31 December 2025 stood at \u20ac7.6 billion (R145 billion). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Category<\/th>Segment<\/th>2025 (\u20acm)<\/th>2024 (\u20acm)<\/th>Movement (Constant Rates)<\/th>Movement (Actual Rates)<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
By region<\/strong><\/td>Europe<\/td>1,550<\/td>1,456<\/td>+8%<\/td>+6%<\/td><\/tr>
<\/td>Asia Pacific<\/td>1,870<\/td>1,913<\/td>+6%<\/td>\u22122%<\/td><\/tr>
<\/td>Americas<\/td>1,740<\/td>1,647<\/td>+14%<\/td>+6%<\/td><\/tr>
<\/td>Japan<\/td>632<\/td>592<\/td>+17%<\/td>+7%<\/td><\/tr>
<\/td>Middle East & Africa<\/td>607<\/td>542<\/td>+20%<\/td>+12%<\/td><\/tr>
By distribution channel<\/strong><\/td>Retail<\/td>4,601<\/td>4,382<\/td>+12%<\/td>+5%<\/td><\/tr>
<\/td>Online retail<\/td>413<\/td>419<\/td>+5%<\/td>\u22121%<\/td><\/tr>
<\/td>Wholesale and royalty income<\/td>1,385<\/td>1,349<\/td>+9%<\/td>+3%<\/td><\/tr>
By business area<\/strong><\/td>Jewellery Maisons<\/td>4,785<\/td>4,501<\/td>+14%<\/td>+6%<\/td><\/tr>
<\/td>Specialist Watchmakers<\/td>872<\/td>867<\/td>+7%<\/td>+1%<\/td><\/tr>
<\/td>Other<\/td>742<\/td>782<\/td>\u2013<\/td>\u22125%<\/td><\/tr>
Total<\/strong><\/td>Total<\/strong><\/td>6,399<\/strong><\/td>6,150<\/strong><\/td>+11%<\/strong><\/td>+4%<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Johann Rupert-controlled Richemont has seen a double-digit rise in sales in the final months of 2025. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":95,"featured_media":807163,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9872],"tags":[4665],"class_list":["post-847953","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-richemont"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/847953","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/95"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=847953"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/847953\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":861160,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/847953\/revisions\/861160"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/807163"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=847953"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=847953"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=847953"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}