Louis Vuitton Owner LVMH Closes Year-End Quarter With Weak Sales Growth
French luxury-goods giant’s results are a sign that shoppers weren’t splurging on its collections of high-end garments in the run-up to the holiday season.
2 min
LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton wrapped up last year’s final quarter with sluggish sales growth, a sign that shoppers weren’t splurging on its collections of high-end garments and handbags in the run-up to the holiday season.
The French luxury-goods giant posted fourth-quarter sales of 22.72 billion euros ($27 billion), up 1% organically. Analysts had forecast €22.59 billion in sales and an organic decline of 0.3%, according to Visible Alpha.
LVMH’s fashion and leather goods division, which houses brands like Louis Vuitton and Dior, contributed €10.16 billion in sales, down 3% organically.
Sales at perfumes and cosmetics declined 1%, while the wines and spirits division reported a 9% contraction in sales. Selective retailing, the unit behind Sephora, fared better, with a 7% increase in sales, while watches and jewelry logged 8% growth.
For LVMH and the wider luxury-goods sector, the final quarter represents a key test of customers’ willingness to indulge on nonessential items in the run-up to Black Friday, Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Earlier this month, British trench-coat maker Burberry Group , Italian luxury-fashion house Brunello Cucinelli and Cartier owner Cie. Financière Richemont all reported higher sales for the quarter, raising the bar for industry bellwether LVMH.
Weak sales growth shows that LVMH’s collections aren’t appealing to clients and that the group is still contending with a slowdown in spending for luxury goods that has plagued the industry for years.
Demand weakened considerably after a postpandemic boom, especially among less affluent shoppers. The downturn has been particularly acute in China—a key market for LVMH and its rivals—as shoppers there have been holding back spending.
Last year brought a dose of uncertainty for LVMH and the sector as it took several months for the European Union to reach a trade deal with the U.S. after President Trump announced his Liberation Day tariffs.
Luxury goods are particularly sensitive to trans-Atlantic trade frictions and the specter of tariffs has never fully disappeared despite that trade deal.
Last week, LVMH and other luxury stocks slumped after Trump threatened 10% levies on various European countries he said were opposed to a U.S. takeover of Greenland. He subsequently called off those tariffs.
LVMH closed 2025 with €80.81 billion in annual sales, down 1% organically. Analysts had forecast €80.65 billion in 2025 sales with a 1.8% organic decline, according to Visible Alpha.
The group said revenue declined in Europe in the second half of the year, while the U.S. benefited from solid demand.
Sales in Japan were down from 2024, but the company said it had seen a noticeable improvement in trends in the rest of Asia, citing a return to growth in the second half of the year.
In an earnings call, executives expressed confidence for 2026 despite an uncertain geopolitical and macroeconomic environment, saying the positive trends they started to see in the second half were still there.
Net profit slid 13% on year to €10.88 billion, while profit from recurring operations fell 9% to nearly €17.76 billion. Analysts had forecast net profit of 10.55 billion euros and profit from recurring operations of €17.15 billion, according to Visible Alpha.
The group said it would propose a dividend of €13 a share at its shareholders’ meeting on April 23, the same as the previous year.
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A record-breaking $11 million sale at The Centennial Collection has set a new benchmark for luxury apartment living in Bondi Junction.
As interest rates, inflation and market sentiment fluctuate, investors are being urged to focus on data, not panic.
The Federal Budget may have softened some of its proposed tax reforms, but it has exposed a bigger issue: too many families are relying on wealth structures that no longer reflect the realities of modern life.
3 min
For many Australians, the 2026 Federal Budget initially felt like a direct challenge to the way wealth is created, held and transferred between generations.
The headlines were immediate: changes to capital gains tax, reforms to discretionary trusts, restrictions on negative gearing and increased scrutiny of investment structures. Unsurprisingly, affluent families, business owners and investors began asking the same question:
Is the way we hold our wealth still fit for purpose?
In recent days, the government has announced several significant amendments following industry consultation and public feedback, including exempting testamentary trusts from the proposed 30 per cent minimum tax and expanding capital gains tax concessions for small businesses.
The backdown is welcome. But it also highlights something much bigger.
This Budget has accelerated a conversation that many Australian families have been postponing for years.
The conversation is not really about tax. It is about wealth stewardship.
For decades, Australians have built wealth through businesses, property, investments and careful long-term planning. Yet many families have not revisited the legal structures surrounding those assets in years, sometimes decades.
We often see clients who have spent years building significant wealth, only to discover their legal arrangements no longer reflect their current circumstances.
Their children are now adults. They may own multiple properties.
They may have sold a business, entered a second marriage, become grandparents or accumulated digital assets that did not exist when their original estate plans were prepared.
The trust that distributes income may need to be reconsidered. The bucket company may no longer be so attractive.
The Budget has simply exposed a reality that already existed: wealth structures cannot remain static while life continues to evolve.
Importantly, trusts themselves are not the issue.
Trusts are legitimate planning tools that provide flexibility, protection and continuity. When used appropriately, they allow families to adapt to changing circumstances over time.
And neither is tax the issue, really. Getting the fundamentals right is more important for long-term, sustainable wealth than a few favourable tax treatments around the edges.
The real issue is complacency.
Too often, families create structures and assume the job is done. It isn’t.
Estate planning is no longer a document you sign once and file away in a drawer. It is an ongoing process that should evolve alongside your life.
We are also seeing a broader shift in how Australians define wealth itself. It is no longer just the family home and an investment portfolio.
Modern wealth includes businesses, digital assets, cryptocurrency, intellectual property, frequent flyer points and increasingly complex family arrangements.
At the same time, Australians are living longer than ever before, meaning wealth may need to support multiple generations simultaneously. This creates new responsibilities and new risks.
How do you help your children enter the property market without exposing family wealth to relationship breakdowns?
How do you structure wealth so that it remains a source of opportunity rather than future conflict?
These are the questions families should be asking now.
The recent debate surrounding testamentary trusts also serves as an important reminder that policy decisions can have unintended consequences for vulnerable Australians. It is encouraging that the government has listened to feedback and clarified its position.
But the lesson remains: the wealth landscape is changing.
Increasingly, governments, regulators and tax authorities are paying closer attention to how wealth is held and transferred. That means families cannot afford to adopt a “set-and-forget” approach to their structures.
The families who will be best placed for the future are not necessarily those with the greatest wealth.
They are the families with the greatest clarity. Clarity around ownership, succession and governance. And clarity around how wealth will transition from one generation to the next.
Ultimately, preserving wealth is not about avoiding change.
It is about preparing for it.
Because the greatest risk is not change itself.
It is losing the ability to respond to it.
Anthony Hunt is Co-Founder of Wealth Lawyers and former COO of Westpac Private Bank. He advises business owners, investors and affluent Australian families on wealth protection, succession planning and intergenerational wealth transfer
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