Richemont shares rise as jewellery shines

Shares in Richemont CFR.S rise around 4% after the Swiss luxury goods group posted "solid" Q4 results, helped by jewellery business in the U.S. despite weaker demand for watches in Asia

Q4 sales rose 7% y/y to 5.17 billion euros ($5.80 billion), as sales at its jewellery division rose 11%

The 11% rise at " the all important" Jewellery Maisons compares to 9% seen in sell-side consensus, as cited by Bernstein, which describes the overall Q4 and FY results as "solid"

J.P.Morgan says Richemont's Q4 performance stands out as the best growth in the luxury sector in this reporting season, despite the very limited contribution from pricing

"This jewellery delivery was more than enough to offset very weak performance at Specialist Watchmaking, showcasing in our view how the Group has truly shifted towards the higher quality, more profitable and less cyclical part of the business" - JPM

The stock, which was up 12% YTD as of Thursday's close, tops Switzerland's blue-chip index .SSMI and is among the best performers on the STOXX 600 .STOXX index

Swiss watchmaker Swatch Group UHR.S is down around 1%

($1 = 0.8921 euros)