⁍ LVMH, the world’s biggest luxury goods group, said it had noted ‘strong signs’ of a recovery since June.

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⁍ The group said revenues came in at 7.8 billion euros ($9.2 billion) in the April to June period, down 38% on a like-for-like basis.

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⁍ That was a touch better than some analysts had expected, with those at UBS citing a consensus for a 39% fall in comparable sales.

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– LVMH, the world’s biggest luxury goods group, said it had noted “strong signs” of a recovery since June, which it hoped would extend into the coming months, after store closures tore a hole into second-quarter sales. The Louis Vuitton owner said revenues came in at $9.2 billion in the April to June period, down 38% on a like-for-like basis, which strips out the impact of currency swings and acquisitions, per Reuters. That was a touch better than some analysts had expected, with those at UBS citing a consensus for a 39% fall in comparable sales. “While we have observed strong signs of an upturn in activity since June, we remain very vigilant for the rest of the year,” LVMH Chairman and CEO Bernard Arnault said in a statement, adding that the group hoped the recovery would be confirmed in the second half of 2020. Like rivals, LVMH was forced to temporarily close stores across several regions and pause manufacturing at some sites as the health emergency spread from the key Chinese market to Europe and the United States. The company is also heavily exposed to travel restrictions, as it operates duty free stores in airports, and many of the shoppers it targets in cities such as Milan or Paris are tourists. The fashion and leather goods division, home to its Vuitton and Christian Dior brands and other smaller ones like Givenchy, had recorded a 37% fall in like-for-like sales. The wine and spirits division did better with a 33% fall in sales, while the watch and jewelry business reported a 52% decline.