Luxury goods group Richemont posted a 5 per cent increase in sales at constant currencies for the three months to December 31, driven by strong growth at its jewellery brands in Asia Pacific and the Middle East.

Sales of luxury watches have contracted sharply during the Covid-19 pandemic, but the jewellery category led by Richemont’s Cartier brand has fared better, motivating LVMH’s recent acquisition of U.S jeweller Tiffany that could change the competitive landscape.

“The 14 per cent sales progression at the Jewellery Maisons was supported by good jewellery and watch sales at Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels,” the group also known for IWC watches said in a statement on Wednesday. It did not give an outlook.

Richemont said sales at constant exchange rates grew 5 per cent in the company’s third quarter, while sales at current rates rose 1 per cent to 4.19 billion euros ($5.09 billion). 

Asia Pacific and the Middle East and Africa grew by about a quarter while Europe declined 20 per cent and the Americas stagnated.

Sales of the group’s watch brands fell 4 per cent, while sales at its jewellery labels rose 14 per cent.

• Reporting by Silke Koltrowitz; editing by Thomas Seythal and Michael Shields, of Reuters.