By Joshua Kirby
Compagnie Financiere Richemont SA said Friday that sales in its first half continued to accelerate, and that it is in talks with Farfetch Ltd. regarding a divestment of struggling e-commerce platform Yoox-Net-A-Porter.
The Swiss luxury-goods group recorded sales of 8.91 billion euros ($10.2 billion) for the six months to Sept. 30, 65% higher organically on year and a 20% increase on the same period two years ago, before the global pandemic hit. This represents a sequential acceleration from the 18% two-year rise seen in the first quarter.
Analysts had seen 1H sales at EUR8.57 billion, according to a FactSet-compiled poll.
Operating income rose 67% over two years to EUR1.95 billion, easily beating analysts' expectations. Net profit came to EUR1.25 billion.
Richemont said it is in talks with New York-listed fashion e-commerce platform Farfetch regarding YNAP, which posted a wider operating loss in the half-year despite higher sales. The aim is for YNAP to become a "neutral platform" with no controlling shareholder, Richemont said, adding that the discussions also include exchanges of technology between the companies, and for the group's brands to join Farfetch's platform.
Write to Joshua Kirby at joshua.kirby@wsj.com; @joshualeokirby