Last Updated: April 24, 2023 at 8:49 a.m. ET
First Published: April 24, 2023 at 8:39 a.m. ET
A record share price for LVMH FR:MC alongside a strengthening euro pushed the luxury goods company to a market capitalization of $500 billion on Monday, the first European company to reach that landmark.
LVMH stock touched a fresh high of €904.60, valuing the group at €454.2 billion. With the euro EURUSD at one point edging up to $1.1020, this equated to $500.5 billion.
The…
A record share price for LVMH
MC
alongside a strengthening euro pushed the luxury goods company to a market capitalization of $500 billion on Monday, the first European company to reach that landmark.
LVMH stock touched a fresh high of €904.60, valuing the group at €454.2 billion. With the euro
EURUSD
at one point edging up to $1.1020, this equated to $500.5 billion.
The owner of brands like Moet & Chandon, Christian Dior and Bulgari earlier in April reported a 17% sales increase in the first quarter, and has seen its shares surge 33% so far in 2023.
LVMH, alongside peers such as Hermes
RMS
and Kering
KER
,
has benefited from the continued growth of the wealthier middle class in developing economies, and particularly increased sales in China of late after the world’s second biggest economy re-opened following its COVID-19 lockdown.
LVMH’s €454 billion valuation has made its creator Bernard Arnault the world’s richest person, with a 48% stake held by him and his family.
Arnault formed LVMH in 1987 with the idea of building a luxury conglomerate that now spans watch brands such as TAG Heuer, handbags by Luis Vuitton and Givenchy perfumes.
The group commands 75 such fashion houses, with 5,664 stores and 196,000 employees. For the full year 2022, LVMH had revenue of €79.2 billion, made net profits of €14.1 billion on an operating margin of 26.6%.
The latest milestone for LVMH may attract some unwanted attention. The group’s headquarters were stormed on April 13th by people protesting French President Emmanuel Macron’s pension reforms, arguing the ultra-wealthy like Arnault should pay more in taxes.
L’Oreal
OR
and Hermes are respectively the third and fifth biggest market cap companies in Europe, with values of about $260 billion and $230 billion. The growth of such French luxury giants has helped the CAC 40 in Paris stand at a record high, up 17% for the year to date.
