An 18-carat pink gold ring from the Serpenti range which has boosted Bulgari's total jewellery sales
Record high for Bulgari jewellery sales
Posted February 01, 2011 | By Sonia Nair
Jewellery sales at Italian luxury group Bulgari rocketed 28.3 per cent to a record high in the key fourth quarter last year.
Watch sales surged 7 per cent and total fourth quarter sales hit EUR$357.8 million ($490.5 million), up 20.5 per cent compared with the same period last year.
Bulgari Group chief executive Francesco Trapani said, “These sales results are highly satisfactory overall and represent a record fourth-quarter turnover in the history of the company, thus confirming the recovery we had already noted in the previous quarters.”
The stellar performance of Bulgari’s jewellery category was driven by the strong success of both the Bzero1 and Serpenti ranges.
Bulgari’s high-end jewellery segment was a significant yet volatile contributing factor to the total jewellery sales.
The fourth quarter sales of high-end jewellery in 2010 came on the back of a highly successful fourth quarter in 2009 where Bulgari sold its most expensive, one-off piece.
Without factoring in the high-end jewellery segment, basic jewellery sales increased by 36 per cent.
The group said there was a “strong recovery” in watches after three weak quarters.
“The performance of watches, in particular, demonstrates that with the expansion and the upgrading in our offer we are going in the right direction,” Trapani said.
Bulgari Group experienced growth in all geographical areas but there were notable increases in Greater China where sales soared 47.3 per cent, and Japan where sales improved 24.9 per cent.
The rest of Asia led the way in sales growth with an increase of 48 per cent.
Sales increased in the Middle East by 13.9 per cent, in the United States by 10.3 per cent and in Europe by 8.4 per cent.
Trapani said, “These data are definitely a good starting point for the months to come, and induce me to a cautious optimism.”
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