Sales at luxury retailer Watches of Switzerland have remained strong despite a big drop in Chinese shoppers following the coronavirus outbreak.
Group chief executive Brian Duffy said demand for its high end watches was so strong that they had been able to maintain sales despite the number of Chinese visitors to its stores falling.
Mr Duffy said almost 8 per cent of all sales within the group – which includes Mappin & Webb and Goldsmiths jewellers – traditionally came from Chinese shoppers.
But despite China being in lockdown, he sales remained buoyant as demand for luxury watch brands in the 海角视频 and US continued to exceed supply.
He said competitors in places such as Switzerland and Hong Kong had been far more badly affected.
Mr Duffy told Business Live: “Chinese tourists accounted for 7.8 per cent of business within our retail group for the nine months to January. It’s not insignificant.
“When flights started to be cancelled that business fell off, but we have been able to offset that with our products going elsewhere.
“We continue to monitor the effects of the ongoing coronavirus outbreak on the wider market and global trade.
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“However, as demand for luxury watch brands in the 海角视频 and US continues to exceed supply, the strong fundamentals of our supply-driven business leave us well positioned to continue to deliver on our plans to leverage our leading position in the 海角视频 and to become a leader in the US in luxury watch retail."
He spoke as new trading figures for the group – which has its head office just outside Leicester – showed revenues of almost £258 million in the three months to January 26, almost 13 per cent up on the same time last year.
Like-for-like sales – which don’t include new stores within the group – were up 6.8 per cent, driven by continued strong sales across its 海角视频 and US branches and a near 21 per cent growth in online sales.
Total sales for the 39 weeks to January 26 were up 15.6 per cent at £686 million.
The Watches of Switzerland Group has 127 core showrooms across the 海角视频 and US - including 22 dedicated single brand stores in partnership with Rolex, TAG Heuer, Omega and Breitling.
It also has a leading presence within Terminals 2, 3, 4 and 5 at Heathrow Airport, and five online stores.
The group has been investing heavily in the States and is the 海角视频's largest retailer for Rolex, Cartier, Omega, TAG Heuer and Breitling watches.
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The trading update showed sales in the States were a third up on the same time a year earlier.
Mr Duffy said: “We had a really good Christmas season despite the fact that it was generally a tough time for retailers with the election and Brexit.
“We are really delighted with our progress in the US.
“I think within the luxury retail category we are doing better than the general market.
“We have got a wonderful array of partner brands, and are really active in multi-channel – with really good flagship stores, online doing well, as well as our airport stores and mono brands.
“Our stores are modern and inviting and appealing and our investment in customer service is a big part of our success.
"We are delighted to report another robust quarter, which was in line with our expectations, as we continue to capitalise on our market leading position and strong brand partnerships.
“Our US business continues to gain momentum, where the Mayors investment programme is successfully underway and generating a promising customer response.
"We continue to see significant growth potential for the Group in the highly fragmented US luxury watch market.
“Looking ahead to the final quarter of the current financial year, improved visibility of luxury watch supply leaves us confident that we are on track to meet guidance for the full year.
“Whilst there has been a delay in the final completion of the Fraser Hart transaction, we expect it to close imminently.”