Richemont, the Swiss luxury goods group, announces its audited results for the year ended 31 March 2008.

Financial highlights

• Sales increased by 10 per cent to € 5 302 million. Good growth seen during the earlier part of the year continued in the fourth quarter.
• Operating profit from the luxury goods businesses increased by 21 per cent to € 1 108 million.
• Net profit, including the Group’s share of the results of British American Tobacco, increased by 18 per cent to € 1 570 million. Excluding the impact of non-recurring items in both years, net profit attributable to unitholders increased by 17 per cent to € 1 582 million.
• Cash generated by the Group’s luxury goods operations was € 968 million.
• The ordinary dividend for the year, at € 0.78 per unit, represents an increase of 20 per cent over that paid in 2007.

Sales
The 10 per cent sales increase reflected good underlying growth across all business areas. At constant exchange rates, sales increased by 16 per cent. The Jewellery Maisons, Specialist Watchmakers and Montblanc all saw strong growth throughout the year.

Operating profit
Higher sales and increased margins generated a 21 per cent increase in operating profit to € 1 108 million. The operating margin for the year was 21 per cent, 2 percentage points higher than the comparative year.

British American Tobacco (‘BAT’)
Richemont’s share of the results of BAT increased 13 per cent to € 609 million, reflecting the higher profitability of BAT and the Group’s higher interest in that company as a result of its buy-back programme. Cash dividends received from BAT during the year amounted to € 325 million.

Net profit
Net profit, including the Group’s share of the results of British American Tobacco, increased by 18 per cent to€ 1 570 million. Earnings per unit on a diluted basis were by 18 per cent higher at € 2.760 per unit.

Cash position
The Group’s net cash position at 31 March 2008 was€ 1 246 million, Group net cash having increased by€ 105 million during the year. This reflected strong net cash generation by the Group’s luxury business of€ 543 million, after tax and capital expenditure, as well as the dividends received from BAT, net of dividends paid to unitholders. During the year, Richemont paid ordinary and special dividends amounting to € 701 million.

Dividend
The dividend for the year will be € 0.78 per unit, an increase of 20 per cent over the prior year's ordinary dividend.

Group results

Operating profit in the prior year included a one off, non-operational gain of € 16 million. During the year under review, there were no such items.

The Group’s share of the results of its principal associate, British American Tobacco, also includes non-recurring items reported by that entity.

Including the Group’s share of results from associates, the overall impact of these non-recurring items, after taxation and minority interests, on net profit was a loss of € 11 million (2006: loss of € 22 million). Excluding non-recurring items, net profit attributable to unitholders increased by 17 per cent to € 1 582 million from € 1 350 million in the prior year.

Richemont holds a portfolio of several of the most prestigious names in the luxury goods industry including Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, Piaget, Vacheron Constantin, Jaeger-LeCoultre, IWC, Alfred Dunhill and Montblanc. In addition to its luxury goods interests, Richemont also holds a significant investment in British American Tobacco – one of the world’s leading tobacco groups.

Press release