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Vuitton Heir's Apartment Burgled in Paris

The epitome of French luxury GUILLAUME SOUVANT AFP
The epitome of French luxury GUILLAUME SOUVANT AFP
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Vuitton Heir's Apartment Burgled in Paris

The epitome of French luxury GUILLAUME SOUVANT AFP
The epitome of French luxury GUILLAUME SOUVANT AFP

The Paris home of an heir of the Louis Vuitton luxury empire was burgled at the weekend, sources close to the case said Monday, with thieves taking high-end watches, jewelry and bags.

Benoit-Louis Vuitton, a sixth generation descendant of the fashion house's founder, lives in the swanky seventh district of the capital near the Invalides military museum, AFP said.

The exact value of the pieces taken was still being evaluated, but they are worth at least several hundreds of thousands of euros (dollars), the sources said.

An investigation is underway, the Paris prosecutors' office said, with the capital's anti-gang unit handling the case.

The Actu17 website, which first broke the news, put the value of the bounty at several million euros.

The burglary happened overnight Sunday to Monday, when the apartment was empty, it said, adding that some of the bags taken were "hugely valuable prototypes".

Louis Vuitton, who founded his namesake luxury house in 1854 by making trunks, died aged 70 in 1892.

In 1987, the company merged with champagne maker Moet et Chandon and cognac brand Hennessy to create LVMH, which is now the world's biggest luxury company, grouping 75 brands and employing 175,000 people.

Louis Vuitton bags, with the famous "LV" monogram, are among the world's most prestigious fashion items and often copied by counterfeiters.

Last week, fake Louis Vuitton bags were among nearly one million euros' worth of knock-offs police found in a raid on a clandestine outlet near Paris.

In September, a group of armed robbers stole 300 Louis Vuitton bags from a sub-contractor working for the company, with their retail value estimated at several hundreds of thousands of euros.

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Fashion

LVMH Shares Drop after Missing Second-quarter Estimates

A man walks past a shop of fashion house Dior in Paris, France, April 15, 2024. REUTERS/Manon Cruz/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
A man walks past a shop of fashion house Dior in Paris, France, April 15, 2024. REUTERS/Manon Cruz/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
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LVMH Shares Drop after Missing Second-quarter Estimates

A man walks past a shop of fashion house Dior in Paris, France, April 15, 2024. REUTERS/Manon Cruz/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
A man walks past a shop of fashion house Dior in Paris, France, April 15, 2024. REUTERS/Manon Cruz/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights

Shares in LVMH (LVMH.PA) fell as much as 6.5% in early Wednesday trade and were on track for their biggest one-day drop since October 2023 after second-quarter sales growth at the French luxury goods giant missed analysts' consensus estimate.

The world's biggest luxury group said late Tuesday its quarterly sales rose 1% year on year to 20.98 billion euros ($22.76 billion), undershooting the 21.6 billion expected on average by analysts polled by LSEG.

At 1000 GMT, LVMH's shares were down 4.5%.

The earnings miss weighed on other luxury stocks, with Hermes (HRMS.PA), down around 2% and Kering (PRTP.PA), off 3%.

Kering is scheduled to report second-quarter sales after the market close and Hermes reports on Thursday, Reuters reported.

Jittery investors are looking for evidence that the industry will pick up from a recent slowdown, as inflation-hit shoppers hold off from splashing out on designer fashion.

JPMorgan analyst Chiara Battistini cut full year profit forecasts by 2-3% for the group, citing softer trends at LVMH's fashion and leather goods division, home to Louis Vuitton and Dior.

"The soft print is likely to add to ongoing investors’ concerns on the sector more broadly in our view, confirming that even best-in-class players like LVMH cannot be immune from the challenging backdrop," said Battistini in a note to clients.

The weakness of the yen, which has prompted a flood of Chinese shoppers to Japan seeking bargains on luxury goods, added pressure to margins, another source of concern.

Equita cut 2024 sales estimates for LVMH by 3% - attributing 1% to currency fluctuations - and lowered its second half organic sales estimate to 7% growth from 10% growth previously.

The lack of visibility for the second half beyond the easing of comparative figures - as the Chinese post-pandemic lockdown bounce tapered off a year ago - is unlikely to improve investor sentiment to the luxury sector, Citi analyst Thomas Chauvet said in an email to clients.

"No miracle with the luxury bellwether; sector likely to remain out of favour," he wrote.

Jefferies analysts said the miss came as investors eye Chinese shoppers for their potential to "resume their pre-COVID role as the locomotive of industry growth and debate when Western consumers will have fully digested their COVID overspend".

LVMH shares have been volatile since the luxury slowdown emerged, and are down about 20% over the past year, with middle-class shoppers in China, the world's No. 2 economy, a key focus as they rein in purchases at home amid a property slump and job insecurity.

LVMH offered some reassurance, with finance chief Jean-Jacques Guiony telling analysts during a call on Tuesday that Chinese customers were "holding up quite well," while business with US and European customers was "slightly better".