Richemont Full-Year Profit Drops

Cie. Financiere Richemont SA posted a 36 percent decline in its profit for the year to March 31. Richemont's earnings for the year slipped to EUR1.33 billion ($1.48 billion), compared to EUR2.07 billion, in the year-ago period. EPS declined 36 percent to 2.356 euros. Headline earnings dropped to 1.208 billion euros, or 2.133 euros per share, versus 2.078 billion euros, or 3.687 euros per share last year. Its sales gained 4 percent to EUR10.14 billion. Its operating profit gained 10 percent to 2.67 billion euros, while operating margin widened to 25.6 percent from 24.2 percent. The company's sales in Asia, excluding Japan, declined 1 percent. Sales in Europe gained 6 percent, while sales in the Americas rose 13 percent. For April, Richemont's sales gained 9 percent. The company's board lifted annual dividend by 14 percent to 1.60 Swiss francs per share, compared to 1.40 francs per share.