Further to a post from a few days ago, the Swatch Group has reported its lowest first-half profit in seven years as demand cratered in Hong Kong, France and Switzerland.
The operating profit for the first half of the year declined 53.6 percent from 761 million CHF to 353 million CHF.
Sales were down 11.4 percent from CHF 4.2 billion in the January-June period in 2015 to CHF 3.7 billion CHF this year, but CEO Nick Hayek estimates that sales for the year may fall up to 6 percent.
Although the Group, like the industry in general, is finding the important Hong Kong market difficult, they also report that Mainland China is showing signs of improvement, and that the U.K. is showing signs of improvement, in large part due to summer tourism and also the weak GBP.
Despite the results Mr Hayek reports that there are no plans to cut jobs, with the only employee number reductions a result of not filling positions when someone leaves. You can find the Swatch Group’s official statement on their half yearly report at this link.
Categories: Industry news, News, watches
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