Bulgari: ‘Stagnant UK economy and the lack of tourists’ force luxury brand into the red

An uptick in the sale of high-end jewellery and watches failed to stop the UK arm of Bulgari falling into the red during its latest financial year.

The London-headquartered division, which is part of the LVMH Group, said that while its overall turnover declined in 2023, it still expects the sale of jewellery and watches to increase in 2024.

According to newly-filed accounts with Companies House, Bulgari posted a turnover of £54.5m, down from £60.3m, while it went from making a pre-tax profit of £3.4m to a loss of £3.2m.

‘Challenging year’ for Bulgari

A statement signed off by the board said: “2023 was a challenging year with instability in the UK market which affected the luxury market.

“Bulgari UK had a strong Q1 in 2023 followed by a decline in revenues from Q2 due to the impact of the stagnant UK economy and the lack of tourists.

“Despite of a reduction on sales on our regular business category [10 per cent] we saw an increase of 26 per cent on high jewellery and 15 per cent on high-end watches.”

On its future, Bulgari added: “The directors’ objective for the business in 2024 is to focus on brand elevation and to continue to strengthen our position in the UK market with continued collaborations with Bafta, Harrods and Selfridges.

“The global strategy is to increase the desirability of the brand, focusing on the creativity of our exclusive unique high-end jewellery pieces and a new LGA creative director.”

LVMH sales and profit cut

The results for Bulgari’s UK arm come after its parent company, LVMH, reported a drop in revenue in the first half of 2024, joining other major fashion brands which are suffering from a slump in demand.

The owner of Dior and Louis Vuitton posted a revenue of €41.7bn (£35bn) for the first half of 2024, one per cent down compared to the first half of 2023.

Net profit was also down 14 per cent at €3.3bn (£2.8bn).

The firm noted the “challenging geopolitical and economic environment” as many other luxury retailers have struggled to match their strong post-pandemic performances in 2022 and 2023.