Hermès Sales up 9% in 2017
Sales reached 5.5 billion euros for 2017 as a whole, up 9 percent year-on-year, while fourth-quarter revenues were down 0.4 percent to 1.5 billion euros. Hermès reported a slowdown in sales growth in the fourth quarter as stocks of its coveted handmade bags ran low. “There is good momentum in our industry because of demographics and because of the economic growth of China and the worldwide economy,” said chief executive Axel Dumas. Hermès said operating profitability should be close to the level recorded over the first half of last year, when it hit a record 34 percent.