Corrections & Amplifications
This headline was corrected at 0513 GMT. The early version misstated the first half net profit as CHF498M.
By Pierre Bertrand
Swatch Group on Thursday reported an increase in first-half sales and net profit, boosted by the lifting of travel restrictions in Asia.
The Swiss watchmaker said it made 486 million Swiss francs in first-half net profit ($560.2 million), compared with CHF311 million in the prior-year period, on sales that grew 11% to CHF4.02 billion.
The company said that in addition to the recovery in Asia, Europe performed well led by Switzerland, which saw an increase in sales of almost 50%, followed by Italy, Spain and France.
Swatch said, however, that its sales were hit by a negative currency effect of 6.7%, or CHF242 million.
Swatch added that it sees “excellent growth opportunities in local currencies” for the second half of the year and that it would introduce new products including, but not limited to, the lower and midrange segments.
“The only cloud on the horizon remains the unfavorable currency environment,” the company said.
Write to Pierre Bertrand at [email protected]
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