Richemont, the Swiss luxury goods group, announces its audited results for the year ended 31 March 2008.

Financial highlights
•Sales increased by 10 per cent to € 5 302 million. Good growth seen during the earlier part of the year continued in the fourth quarter.

•Operating profit from the luxury goods businesses increased by 21 per cent to € 1 108 million.

•Net profit, including the Group’s share of the results of British American Tobacco, increased by 18 per cent to € 1 570 million. Excluding the impact of non-recurring items in both years, net profit
attributable to unitholders increased by 17 per cent to € 1 582 million.

•Cash generated by the Group’s luxury goods operations was € 968 million.

•The ordinary dividend for the year, at € 0.78 per unit, represents an increase of 20 per cent over that paid in 2007.

Sales
The 10 per cent sales increase reflected good underlying growth across all business areas. At constant exchange rates, sales increased by 16 per cent. The Jewellery Maisons, Specialist Watchmakers and Montblanc all saw strong growth throughout the year.


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Source: Compagnie Financière Richemont SA
www.richemont.com