Despite an extremely challenging economic environment, LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton has eked out a revenue growth of 0.4% in quarter one of 2009, a factor slightly greater than that of the first quarter 2008--a period during which demand for luxury goods was robust.

The various luxury categories within LVMH certainly experienced some difficulty.  Wines & Spirits and Perfumes & Cosmetics saw declines of 16% and 8% respectively, while Watches & Jewelry was down 27%--a factor that LVMH attributes to de-stocking measures undertaken by retailers and "the considerable exposure of TAG Heuer and De Beers to the American market".  The company noted, however, that new collections by watch brands in the group, including the TAG Heuer Aquaracer 500 and Zenith's Chronomaster El Primero received a warm reception at Baselworld 2009 and in fact, gained consumer market share.  

A particularly bright spot for LVMH was the performance of its Fashion & Leather Goods division, up 11% compared to first quarter results for 2008.  According to LVMH, this positive growth is attributable to the excellent performance of the Louis Vuitton Damier Graphite line introduced in 2008, as well as new collections inspired by a creative association between Marc Jacobs and Stephen Sprouse.
 
LVMH attributes its overall performance to a talented and responsive organization uniting strongly performing brands across a well-balanced geographic market.  Going forward, the luxury group will continue focusing on disciplined cost management and selective investments to improve its growth and influence in the luxury goods industry.  Click here to access LVMH's full report.

More about TAG Heuer:

TAG Heuer brand & watch collections

TAG Heuer Aquaracer 500M watch

More about Zenith:

Zenith brand & watch collections

Zenith Chronomaster watches