LVMH's revenue fell 3 percent and grew 2 percent in the same half, and its biggest division returned to organic growth in the second quarter
Two revenue numbers describe the same six months at LVMH and they point in opposite directions.
Revenue was €38,644m in the first half of 2026 against €39,810m a year earlier, down 3 percent as reported and up 2 percent organically, according to the results the company published in Paris on Monday. The gap is arithmetic rather than argument. LVMH puts the perimeter effect at minus 1 percent and the currency effect at minus 5 percent, and organic growth measures what is left when both are removed.
Growth accelerated inside the half. The group's organic revenue growth reached 3 percent in the second quarter, which the company says would have been 4 percent excluding the impact of the conflict in the Middle East. It describes accelerating growth in the United States, strong growth in Asia excluding Japan, growth in Japan across the half and resilience in Europe.
Profit from recurring operations was €8,691m against €9,012m, down 4 percent, on an operating margin the company puts at 22.5 percent. Net profit, group share, was €5,697m against €5,698m, which is stable to within a rounding of a million euros. Operating free cash flow was €4,100m, up 2 percent. Net financial debt fell 19 percent to €8,245m and equity rose 4 percent to €69,694m.
The divisions separate the story. Fashion and Leather Goods, at €18,146m the largest of them, fell 1 percent organically across the half and returned to organic growth of 1 percent in the second quarter, while its profit from recurring operations fell 7 percent to €6,195m. Watches and Jewelry grew 9 percent organically in the half and 11 percent in the second quarter, with recurring profit up 9 percent to €831m. Wines and Spirits grew 5 percent organically with recurring profit up 11 percent to €582m, and the company describes encouraging signs in champagne and continuing momentum for Hennessy cognac in China. Selective Retailing, which is mostly Sephora, grew 5 percent organically in the half and 6 percent in the quarter. Perfumes and Cosmetics was flat organically across the half and minus 1 percent in the quarter.
Bernard Arnault, chairman and chief executive, attributed the second-quarter acceleration to the reception of Jonathan Anderson's first designs for Christian Dior, the performance of new Louis Vuitton stores in Beijing and Seoul, the Tiffany and Bvlgari jewellery lines, growth at Sephora and the recovery in champagne and cognac. The release also records an agreement with WHP Global for the sale of Marc Jacobs.
This item is a day late. LVMH published on Monday evening in Paris and this site did not carry it, which is a hole in the record of a sector the publication otherwise covers through auction results and price indexes. Nothing in the document has been superseded, and the half-year figures in it are final rather than provisional.
