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On Thursday 18 March, Nick Hayek, head of the Swatch Group, led the watchmaking giant’s annual press conference. He spoke of his hopes for a revival of world tourism and the lifting of containment measures to bring 2021 “on a par with 2019”.
The Swiss Watch Federation said that the industry’s exports finally stabilised in February after falling by 22% last year. This stabilisation was due in particular to a rebound in the United States and China, while Europe and the entry-level segment remained weak.
Moreover, although sales have recovered this year, and the group stated in January that there was a good chance that it would reach 2019 sales levels, further closures in Europe now pose risks to the 2021 target https://ed-danmark.com/koeb-kamagra-...
However, Swatch is seeing some recovery in countries where restrictions related to the coronavirus pandemic have been partially lifted, such as mainland China, Macao, Russia, South Korea and the USA.
“We want to get as close as possible to 2019 sales,” the executive said, adding that it was still too early to say whether this would be possible. “We’re just in March but that’s our goal.”
Peter Steiger, head of the company’s US business, said he expects first-quarter sales in the US to be 15% higher than the same period in 2019.
As a reminder, Swatch group posted 53 million francs in losses in 2020 compared to 748 million in profits in 2019. Sales fell by 32% compared to 2019 due to the closure of shops during the pandemic and the breakthrough of smartwatches on the market. As much as to say that the Swiss watchmaker has suffered the full impact of the health crisis.
“We had to adapt, and we felt a major impact on our business. Not because people’s habits have changed, but because governments have taken steps to shut down the world and operations,” said Nick Hayek.
The owner of Omega, Tissot and Longines brands, as well as Swatch watches, had said it recorded a “net loss last year for the first time in decades”.
Read also > SWATCH GROUP IS LOOKING FOR A SECOND WIND
Featured Photo : © Omega[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
