The four Spanish brands that sneak into the 'top 100' of world luxury

Spain registered a growth rate in volume of sales of luxury goods during the last fiscal year of 6.2%, the highest in the world, followed by France, of 5.8%, despite the global drop experienced by luxury giants, which have had a growth of 1%, 5.8 percentage points less than in the previous year, according to data provided by the fifth edition of the Global Powers of Luxury Goods 2018 annual report Prepared by Deloitte.

In the previous edition of the report, Spain was the second country in growth for the fourth consecutive year, with an increase in sales of 9.7%, even above the world average, and was only surpassed by France, which It had a growth of 14.9%.

The partner in charge of the Consumer Goods and Distribution industry at Deloitte, Fernando Pasamón, has indicated that the luxury market is rebounding after periods of economic uncertainty and the geopolitical crisis of 2016, approaching an annual sales figure of one billion dollars at the end of 2017. In addition, he added that, unlike in other industries, growth in the luxury goods industry is expected to be "constant".

According to Deloitte, the 100 largest luxury companies worldwide have a combined average turnover of $2.2 billion. French firms register higher average revenues, while Italy once again leads the ranking of countries with the largest number of companies among the 100 largest firms in the luxury sector, with 24 companies, two fewer than in the previous edition of the report.

Spanish companies, compared to those of other countries studied, are the smallest, with an average annual sales of luxury products of 741 million dollars. For yet another year, the perfume firm Puig, the jeweler Tous, the Lonia Textile Society (Purificación García and Carolina Herrera) and the watch brand Festina Lotus once again enter the 'top 100' prepared by Deloitte.

At world level, the global ranking is once again headed by the leader of this sector, the French LVMH Möet Hennessy-Louis Vuitton, with a turnover of 41,593 million dollars in the previous year, of which 23,447 correspond to articles deluxe. It is followed by The Estée Lauder Companies, which moves up to second from third place, overtaking Compagnie Financière Richemont, now in third place.

There are no major changes in the rest of the companies in the 'top ten', completed by the firms Luxottica Group and Kering, which once again occupy fourth and fifth place respectively; L'Oreal Luxe, which climbed one position and is in sixth place; The Swatch Group, seventh in the ranking, Ralph Lauren Corporation, which maintains its position in eighth place; PVH Corporation, in ninth position; and, lastly, Chow Tai Fook Jewelery Group, which fell again for the third consecutive year.

Putting the focus on the type of product, the report prepared by Deloitte indicates that the segment formed by fragrances and cosmetics had the best evolution, registering the greatest increase in sales, with a growth of 7.6% in its last exercise. Its average annual sales exceeded 3,000 million during the previous fiscal year and eight of the eleven companies in this segment achieved sales of more than 1,000 million dollars.

Companies dedicated to the sale of luxury footwear and clothing decreased their sales by 0.2%, according to the results. Both sales growth figures and profit margins fall for the second year in a row. The top three companies in this segment, Ralph Lauren, PVH Corp. and Hugo Boss accounted for almost 40% of sales during the past fiscal year.

On the other hand, bags and accessories make up the second segment with the highest increase in sales, of 3.4%. The nine companies that make up this subsector are dominated by the three largest: Luxottica Group, Safilo Group and Kate Spade. Together, they represent 82.3% of sales. In addition, luxury watch and jewelry firms posted the lowest sales growth rate, losing 4%.