Cartier optimistic about profits in Christmas

Cartier has achieved a good equation with shoppers this Christmas. "Christmas sales have gone very well. It started in mid-November and hopefully it goes on like this until early next year," said Bernard Fornas, The jewellery and watch makers chief executive. "It is better than last year, definitely. All over the world things are better than last year. There is a lot of cash around the world and (there is a willingness to spend it) on many things, one of them being luxury goods...and we take our share of the cake," Fornas added. "If nothing goes wrong there is no reason why we should not grow by two digits."

Fornes thinks that while Japan is doing very well, with fashion-conscious customers willing to buy big-ticket items, European consumers were less generous in Christmas spending. Economic difficulties in countries like Germany and France have created uncertainty among consumers, restraining their spending on luxury goods.

"There are a lot of things which are impacting Europe negatively... (they are) not playing in favour of a strong comeback. The euro is still high against other currencies and obviously the flow of tourists is penalized compared to what it was in 2000/2001," he said. The flow of tourism to Europe has considerably reduces since 2003.

Fornas claims that Cartiers global presence, with 245 stores worldwide, allowed it to compensate for a weaker showing in Europe. "Japan is back, there is no reason why it should not continue," he commented on Cartier sustaining its double-digit sales growth there.