Corrected: LVMH third-quarter sales below expectations as fashion and leather division shrinks
CORRECTED-LVMH third-quarter sales below expectations as fashion and leather division shrinks Corrects revenue figure in paragraph 2 to €18.50 billion from €18.28 billion
PARIS, Oct 12 (Reuters) - France's LVMH LVMH.PA on Monday reported worse-than-expected third-quarter organic sales growth as weak demand for its fashion and leather goods weighed.
Organic sales, which strip out currency swings, rose 1% year-on-year to €18.50 billion ($20.65 billion), compared with the 1.3% increase expected by analysts in Visible Alpha consensus. The fashion and leather goods division, which includes flagship brands Louis Vuitton and Dior and generates nearly half of group revenue, posted a 5% fall in organic sales, against an expected 1.8% decline.
The trading update from LVMH - the world's largest luxury group and the first major firm to report third-quarter results - looked likely to further unsettle investors amid fears that the $350 billion luxury sector, mired in a three-year slowdown, will struggle to regain its former momentum.
($1 = 0.8960 euros)
(reporting by Tassilo Hummel, editing by Dominique Patton)
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