Compagnie Financière Richemont SA (CFR) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Richemont FY '22 Interim Results Presentation. I'm Alice, your call operator. [Operator Instructions] The conference is being recorded. [Operator Instructions] The conference must not be recorded for publication or broadcast. At this time, it is my pleasure to hand over to Sophie Cagnard, Group Corporate Communications Director. Please go ahead.

Thank you, Alice, and good morning, everyone. We hope you are doing well. So here with me are Johann Rupert, Chairman; Jérôme Lambert, Group Chief Executive Officer; Burkhart Grund, Group Finance Officer; Cyrille Vigneron, Cartier Chief Executive Officer; Nicolas Bos, Van Cleef & Arpels Chief Executive Officer; and James Fraser, IR Executive. We are pleased to welcome you to Richemont's results presentation for the 6-months period ended 30 September 2021. We would like to remind you that the company announcement and financial presentation can be downloaded from richemont.com, and the replay of this audio webcast will be available on our website today at 3 p.m. Geneva time. Before we begin, may I draw your attention to the disclaimer on our presentation and company announcement regarding forward-looking statements as defined in the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Turning now to the presentation. Burkhart will begin by discussing the financial highlights and group sales. I will then provide further detail on the performance of our Maisons and Online Distributors. Finally, Burkhart will walk you through the financials and offer some concluding remarks. This presentation will be followed by a Q&A session. I will now hand the call over to Burkhart.

Thank you, Sophie. Good morning to everyone listening. Thank you for joining us today. Sales for the 6-months period ended September 2021 showed solid growth, rising by 65% versus the prior year period at constant exchange rates and by 63% at actual exchange rates. Sales are now 24% higher than 2 years ago at constant exchange rates and 20% higher at actual exchange rates. Our group emerged stronger from the pandemic with double-digit sales growth versus the first half of the prior year across all business areas, channels and regions. Compared with the same period of 2 years ago, at constant exchange rates, all business areas and channels and most regions also grew. A significantly improved operating leverage due to strong sales with a contained increase in costs led to an operating profit of EUR 1.95 billion, up by 331% over the prior year period, with an operating margin of 21.9%. Compared to September 2019, this represents a 67% increase in operating profit at a 620 basis point gain in operating margin. Profit for the period amounted to EUR 1.25 billion. The net cash position was very solid at EUR 3.15 billion, an increase of EUR 1 billion versus September 2020 after the dividend payout of more than EUR 1 billion just recently. Benefiting from the enduring appeal of its Maisons and businesses, Richemont has significantly exceeded pre-pandemic sales levels overall and across most business areas, channels and regions. Compared to the 6-months period ended September 2019, we saw strong sales growth at the Jewellery Maisons and Specialist Watchmakers. Online Distributors recorded steady growth, and the Other business area consolidated their position. Profitability was enhanced with the Jewelry Maisons achieving an exceptional half year 38% operating margin, supported by 67% year-on-year sales growth. The Specialist Watchmakers delivered a strong 22% operating margin, fueled by a 74% year-on-year sales growth. Overall, higher sales, improved gross margin and continued cost control led to a strong operating margin. Richemont's digital transformation continued. We achieved robust growth in online retail sales, notwithstanding the reopening of physical stores. We are transitioning towards a hybrid model, mixing 1P and 3 distribution at NET-A-PORTER, MR PORTER and YOOX to meet the needs of brand partners and offer more choice to customers. In June, we announced the acquisition of Delvaux, the oldest luxury leather goods Maison in the world, to strengthen our presence and savoir faire in leather. Delvaux will be able to leverage the group's global presence and digital capabilities to develop omnichannel opportunities and customer engagement. Let us now turn to sales by business area. On a quarter-by-quarter basis, sales have continued to sequentially accelerate, as evidenced by the strong Q2 performance, and this both on a 1-year and 2-year comparison basis. Jewellery Maisons continued to perform strongly with a high double-digit sales increase year-on-year. Compared to the same period 2 years ago, the first and second quarters had solid growth, which led to a 36% increase in the first half. Sales at Specialist Watchmakers, Online Distributors and Maisons under the Other business area all accelerated in the second quarter, leading to solid and positive 1- and 2-year sales growth comparisons at constant exchange rates. Let me now discuss the group's sales performance in more detail, first, by region and then by distribution channel. At actual exchange rates, year-on-year sales grew by EUR 3.4 billion to now EUR 8.9 billion, with all regions experiencing growth and posting double- to triple-digit sales increases. The strongest growth came from the Americas, which represented 22% of group sales, up from 16% of group sales a year ago. The Americas' share of group sales is nearly on par with Europe, which, after a 63% year-on-year sales increase, accounted for 23% of group sales. Asia Pacific is the largest region in terms of sales, representing 42% of group sales. The largest contributors to the first half sales increase were Asia Pacific and the Americas. I will now discuss the sales performance on a 1- and 2-year comparison basis at constant exchange rates. When comparing to the first half of 2019, that is to say 2 years ago, there were strong double-digit increases in the Americas, Asia Pacific and Middle East and Africa. Asia Pacific saw robust growth across most main markets, notably China, Macau SAR and South Korea. Europe and Japan recorded softer sales due to lower tourist spending owing to ongoing COVID-19-related travel restrictions that more than offset encouraging local demand. In the second quarter, all regions accelerated versus the first quarter, notably the Americas and Europe, where a partial resumption of international travel and sustained local consumption contributed to the improvement. Let us now turn to sales by distribution channel. All channels performed well. As stores reopened, traffic returned and retail sales grew by 71% versus the prior year period and by 34% versus 2 years ago. Performance was strong across all regions and business areas versus last year. Growth was particularly high in Asia Pacific, Europe, the Americas. And compared to 2 years ago, Asia Pacific and the Americas also enjoyed double-digit growth, including robust increases in China, South Korea and Macau SAR. All business areas posted significant sales increases with the Jewellery Maisons contributing the most to the growth in sales. Compared to 2 years ago, both the Jewellery Maisons and Specialist Watchmakers achieved strong double-digit sales progressions. Sales benefited from 17 new net store openings, mainly in Asia Pacific and Japan for the Jewellery Maisons and Specialist Watchmakers. We also completed renovations at several Cartier boutiques. Retail was by far the largest contributor to group sales, accounting for 56% of sales in the first half of the year, up from 53% a year ago. Online Retail achieved a 38% year-on-year sales increase and a 33% increase versus 2 years ago. The growth in online retail sales is all the more noteworthy as it continued while mono-brand and multi-brand stores reopened. As with the retail channel, the growth in online retail was strong across all regions and business areas. The strongest increase came from Asia Pacific and the Americas as well as from the Specialist Watchmakers, though from a lower base, and the Fashion & Accessories Maisons. Online retail made up 18% of group sales in the period compared with 22% in the prior year period. Offline and online retail combined, which are the direct-to-client interaction, contributed 74% of sales in the first half of the year. This high level of direct interaction enables us to know our clients better, thereby further improving our quality of service as we gain an increased understanding of what our clients want, when and where they want it. Now moving on to wholesale sales, which includes sales to mono-brand franchise partners to third-party multi-brand retail partners as well as sales to agents in addition to royalty income. Wholesale sales represented 26% of group sales and were up by 74% versus the prior year period and by 2% compared to 2 years ago. The year-on-year increase was broad-based across all regions and business areas. It is worth highlighting that sales returned to growth versus the pre-pandemic period of 2 years ago. Year-on-year, Europe, Asia Pacific and Middle East and Africa all posted double-digit sales increases, while sales in Europe and Japan remained below pre-pandemic levels. Back to you, Sophie.

Thank you, Burkhart. I will now review the business areas with all comparisons at actual rates. Let me start with the Jewellery Maisons, which include Buccellati, Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels. The Jewellery Maisons emerged stronger from the crisis. We posted a stellar first half across all regions and channels versus the prior year period. The strongest growth came from Europe and the Americas. Asia Pacific enjoyed significant growth and provided the highest contribution to the increase in sales. Compared to 2 years ago, the Jewellery Maisons achieved a 36% sales growth with steady performance from the first to the second quarter. Most regions recorded solid double-digit sales increases with the exception of Europe, where it is stable, and Japan, down double digits due partly to reduced but improving tourist spending. Demand with local clientele was sustained. Operating results rose by 109% with an exceptional half year margin of 37.9%. This excellent performance is a result of higher sales, just mentioned, increased manufacturing capacity utilization and good cost control. Let us look at the main developments over the past 6 months. The Maisons benefited from the successful introduction of new preferences within iconic collections. These included additions to Panthère and Clash at Cartier to Frivole and Perlée at Van Cleef & Arpels and to Opera Tulle at Buccellati. High jewellery also returned to growth with the introduction of new high jewellery collections and the return of physical events and reopening of stores alongside digital events. To meet the strong level of regional demand, Jewellery Maisons accelerated agility in production and supply management. Store renovations also continued at a high rhythm for Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels within a stable physical store network. Already, 100 Cartier stores out of 268 are under the new concept. Cartier reopened boutiques in Taiwan's [indiscernible] and Singapore Marina Bay Sands. New store openings included Paris La Samaritaine for Cartier and Wynn in Las Vegas for Van Cleef & Arpels. Buccellati is undergoing a qualitative improvement of its distribution network, combined with targeted store openings and the internalization -- sorry, internalization, yes, of a Japanese distribution network. At the same time, the Jewellery Maisons increased their online reach. The number of markets offering e-commerce facilities almost doubled in 2 years for Cartier. Our Maisons have also continued to be active in advancing the movement for better luxury. Entrusted by Richemont, Cartier, in partnership with Kering and the Responsible Jewellery Council, launched the Watch and Jewellery Initiative 2030 with objectives covering environmental, sourcing and social issues. Van Cleef & Arpels partnered with Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle in Paris to protect nature and biodiversity, including botanical gardens preservation and awareness programs. Buccellati initiated the process to become certified by the Responsible Jewellery Council. Let us now review our Specialist Watchmakers business area, where sales in the first half grew by 74% versus the prior period and by 7% versus 2 years ago. We are pleased to report that sales in the first and second quarter of our financial year both surpassed pre-COVID levels and accelerated to reach double-digit growth in the second quarter. The first half was characterized by very strong growth across all regions, Maisons and channels, with online retail growing by triple digits. Regionally, the strongest growth came from the Americas and Middle East and Africa, both with triple-digit sales progression, supported by strong local demand. Inventory continues to be tightly monitored with sell-out being above selling. The operating results increased significantly to EUR 376 million, achieving a margin of 22.4%. This was largely due to -- this was largely the results of strong sales, improved manufacturing capacity utilization and tight cost control. There continued to be solid performance of iconic collections. Just to name a few: Overseas at Vacheron Constantin; Pilot at IWC; Reverso at Jaeger-LeCoultre; Luminor at Panerai; Possession and Polo at Piaget; and Odysseus at A. Lange & Söhne. Further the development of e-commerce and new omnichannel services, including click from store and ship from store, supported the triple-digit growth of online retail sales, albeit from a low base. The first half saw an extension of the retail network, including a greater emphasis on franchise stores with 30 openings. The 14 new internal stores, including -- included IWC in Seoul and Jaeger-LeCoultre in Wuhan, while renovation related to Piaget flagship store on London New Bond Street. Direct-to-client sales increased from less than 40% of group sales 2 years ago to close to 50% at the end of September. With a view to further enhance visibility, high investments were dedicated to media and events such as Watches & Wonders in Shanghai or the IWC Big Pilot road show. The TimeVallée multi-brand concept managed by our retail partners was further rolled out with 7 openings. The boutiques provide a highly qualitative environment to showcase our creations with many interactive digital features. Now let us move on to Online Distributors. Sales increased by 37% versus the prior year period and by 8% versus 2 years ago. All regions achieved double-digit sales growth. The Americas, which is the second contributor to sales, posted the highest growth rate. Gross merchandise value, GMV, was up by 28% during the period. On a 2-year basis, we saw an acceleration in sequential growth from the first quarter to the second quarter. The EUR 141 million operating loss was broadly in line with the prior period, notwithstanding higher sales and improved gross margin. Results partly reflected the temporary absorption of Brexit's costs for an amount approximating EUR 40 million as well as increased investment in communications. Operating margin improved by almost 400 basis points. The EBITDA loss of EUR 49 million was stable compared to the prior year period. The first half saw the succession completion of a platform journey that started at THE OUTNET followed by MR PORTER and now ended with NET-A-PORTER. The NET-A-PORTER and MR PORTER distribution center in Landriano, Italy is now fully operational and acting as a central hub, selling to millions of customers around the world. The move to a hybrid business model we launched in May is progressing well with some key brands starting to operate on e-concession models. Preparation for the YOOX marketplace has started. NET-A-PORTER Tmall Luxury Pavilion flagship store is now retailing over 400 brands, enabling them to provide a curated assortment, exclusive and limited editions. NET-A-PORTER just launched a resale service with Reflaunt, a leading resale technology provider. MR PORTER and THE OUTNET will follow in early calendar 2022. This marks the next step in the long-term mission to unlock circularity. The ongoing internationalization of Watchfinder continued with the establishment of a team and localized business in Italy and new partnerships with the staff in stores. In parallel, Watchfinder further partnered with our Maisons and businesses. It further rolled out the watch trade-in program within our Watch Maisons, Montblanc and Cartier stores. The program is now operational within 89 stores. Watchfinder also launched a partnership to offer preowned designer watches to NET-A-PORTER and MR PORTER stores in the U.S.A. Finally, let's now move to the Other businesses, which include the Fashion & Accessories Maisons, the group's watch component manufacturing and real estate activities. Sales increased by 72% year-on-year or 63% excluding Delvaux. Growth was broad-based across Maisons, including at Montblanc despite substantially lower footfall in airports. Europe, the Americas and Middle East and Africa recorded a stronger sales growth. Compared to the 6-months period ended September 2019, sales are slightly lower, but second quarter sales exceeded pre-COVID levels with double-digit growth. Operating profit amounted to EUR 29 million and generated a 3% operating margin. This performance reflected higher sales, improved gross margins at most Maisons as well as strict cost control. The first collections of the new creative directors, Gabriela Hearst at Chloé and Pieter Mulier at Alaïa, have been very positively received and generated strong digital coverage and value interest. Peter Millar has continued to generate a strong performance, including a significant increase in their online sales and strong demand for G/FORE. In June, the group acquired Delvaux, the oldest luxury leather goods Maisons in the world. As the inventor of the modern luxury handbag, Delvaux has an exceptional savoir faire and creativity. A new management team is overseeing its development. After the tragic passing of Alber Elbaz, last night of the Paris Fashion Week closed with a very special show entitled, Love Brings Love. This collaborative runway gathered 45 houses and designers to pay tribute to Alber's creative vision and unconditional love for the fashion family. The Fashion & Accessories Maisons continued to focus on developing their digital capabilities to support their growing geographical reach. As an example, Montblanc designed its website for improved user experience. In terms of sustainability, Chloé became the first luxury Maison to achieve the very demanding B Corp certification, reinforcing its commitment to meeting the highest social and environmental performance standards. This concludes the review of the first half performance of each business area. Burkhart, back to you.

Thank you, Sophie. Let me walk you through the rest of the P&L, starting with gross profit. Gross profit was up 78% from last year and 22% above pre-COVID level. The gross margin increased 550 basis points to 63.3%, which is 100 basis points above the same period of 2 years ago. The increase is primarily due to improved manufacturing capacity utilization resulting from a strong pickup in demand, a favorable geographical sales mix and a further shift towards retail sales. Operating expenses now, which increased by 36%, below the 63% increase in sales. Selling and distribution expenses increased by 31% at actual exchange rates versus the prior year period and by 8% versus 2 years ago. The increase from last year was partly due to the termination of the one-off rental concessions and government employment support as well as an increase in variable lease costs and personnel costs, reflecting the resumed activity. Expenses represented 21% of sales versus 26% in H1 '21 and 23% in H1 '20. Communication expenses rose by 104% year-on-year at actual exchange rates and by 3% above the same period 2 years ago. The triple-digit year-on-year increase was driven by the resumption of communication activity and client events, owing to the improving trading environment. As a percentage of sales, communication expenses amounted to 8% of group sales compared to 9% in the pre-COVID 6-months period ended September 2019. Fulfillment expenses rose by 39% year-on-year at actual exchange rates and by 33% compared with H1 '20. Fulfillment expenses represented 2% of sales in the current period, in line with the same period 2 years ago. Administration expenses were 16% higher than the prior year period at actual exchange rates and 3% higher than in the 6-months period ended September 2019. The group's businesses maintained tight cost control that more than offset a relatively stronger Swiss franc, continued technology and digital investments. Administration expenses amounted to 9% of sales to be compared with 13% of sales in the prior year period and 10% the year before. Other operating expenses increased by 10% year-on-year and by 5% versus the first half 2 years ago. Other expenses reflected the impact of valuation adjustments, which mainly consist of the amortization of intangible assets recognized on acquisition, for a total of EUR 89 million for the period under review. Net operating expenses as a percentage of group sales amounted to 41.4% compared to 49.5% a year ago. This leads us to operating profit, which, at EUR 1.9 billion, more than tripled year-on-year and is up 67% compared to the 6-months period ended September 2020. Operating margin increased 620 basis points compared to 2 years ago to reach 21.9% of sales. Let us now review the rest of the P&L items below the operating profit line, starting with finance costs. Net finance costs increased by EUR 268 million to EUR 385 million, reflecting mainly a EUR 189 million noncash fair value loss on the investments into Farfetch convertible notes as well as the option over additional shares in Farfetch China. These fair value adjustments are driven by the variation of the underlying Farfetch share price. An additional driver was a EUR 21 million loss on hedging activities this year compared to EUR 70 million gain in the prior year period. These negative movements were partly offset by EUR 48 million improvement in the net foreign exchange loss of monetary items. Profit for the period rose more than 6-fold to EUR 1.2 billion compared to 2 years ago. This represents a 44% increase. The increase was driven by the higher operating profit owing to the global recovery in luxury demand and partly offset by the higher net finance costs just mentioned. Our effective tax rate for the first half of the financial year was 21%. Cash flow generated from operating activities increased 92% to EUR 1.8 billion as a result of the higher operating profit already discussed. The increase in operating profit was more than enough to absorb the well-controlled increase in working capital needed to support stellar growth in sales as manufacturing facilities increased production to meet demand. Let us now turn to our gross capital expenditure. Investments increased 45% from the prior year period to EUR 272 million. Compared to 2 years ago, capital expenditure was 3% lower. As a percentage of sales, capital expenditure was 3.1% compared to 3.4% in the prior year period and 3.8% 2 years ago. 48% of gross expenditure related to points-of-sales investments, mostly renovations and relocations of internal stores. It also included new store openings in Shenzhen and Las Vegas for Van Cleef & Arpels and relocations and renovations at Cartier, such as Rue de Lappe in Paris, Rue du Rhône in Geneva or Fifth Avenue store in New York. Manufacturing spend increased to 13% of sales. It was mostly related to Cartier. Other investments made up 39% and were mainly IT-related at the Online Distributors. Let us now turn to free cash flow. Free cash inflow more than doubled to EUR 1.070 billion. This was driven by higher cash flow from operating activities, which more than compensated for increased capital expenditure and investments into the new China joint venture with Alibaba and Farfetch. Our balance sheet remains strong. Shareholders' equity accounts for 50% of the total, broadly in line with the ratio at the end of the prior financial year. Net cash increased by more than EUR 1 billion to EUR 3.153 billion. This includes the dividend payment of just over EUR 1 billion or CHF 2 per A share. That was approved by shareholders at the AGM in September. The decision to put to vote a dividend back to its September 2019 levels reflected the improving economic environment, solid cash flow generation and attractive long-term prospects for the luxury goods industry. Before we open the call for Q&A, let me conclude with some key takeaways. In the first half, we have further progressed on our digital journey. E-commerce sites were open for the Specialist Watchmakers that did not previously have full e-commerce solutions in certain locations in North America, Europe and Japan. We have further improved our distance sales capabilities by adding new language support and extending hours as well as integrating new tools to enhance the customer experience. We have been developing the omnichannel journey further. One example is click from store that allows customers to place orders in boutiques with a sales associate if a requested product is not available in store. Another example is ship from store, which enables access to stock in boutiques to fulfill online orders, improving delivery lead times. These new features are live for an increasing number of Maisons and geographies. Some Maisons and regions have also integrated boutique appointment scheduling into their websites. Our Maisons and businesses are increasingly partnering together. Examples include the collaboration of NET-A-PORTER and MR PORTER with Watchfinder in the U.S. to offer clients the opportunity to benefit from the preowned market. Also, a trade-in program has been expanded to 89 boutiques among our Specialist Watchmakers, Montblanc and Cartier. Brands like Jaeger-LeCoultre and Chloé have notably partnered with NET-A-PORTER and MR PORTER, offering limited additions and capsule collections. Part of our digital journey has included the partnering with Alibaba and Farfetch to form the Farfetch China joint venture announced a year ago. As part of that commitment, Richemont has invested USD 250 million alongside Alibaba with the joint venture becoming operational last August. On the sustainability front, we are set to deliver against the targets articulated in our movement for better luxury. We had our Science Based Targets validated by the Science Based Targets initiative earlier in the summer. They provide us with a clearly defined pathway to reduce carbon emissions and help prevent the worst impacts of climate change while future-proofing our business for greener growth. We have also committed to eliminate PVC, which is an extremely hard plastic to recycle, from all products and packaging by the end of 2022. Partnerships continue to be an important part of achieving our sustainability goals and driving change. Over the last 6 months, our Maisons have worked with organizations across the industry. And initiatives such as, for example, the Gemstones and Jewellery Community Platform provides members of the gemstone and jewelry industry the tools and resources they need for responsible sourcing and responsible production. The Watch and Jewelry Initiative 2030 launched by Cartier in partnership with Kering and the Responsible Jewellery Council. This initiative is open to all and meant to start a collective journey to ensure the industry creates positive outcomes for the planet and its people. The Aura Blockchain Consortium launched in partnership with the Prada Group and LVMH. Dedicated to the luxury industry, it aims to improve traceability, responsible sourcing and sustainability. Together with our clients, we will be able to follow the entire product life cycle from conception to distribution of trusted data in a secure digital format. NET-A-PORTER, MR PORTER and THE OUTNET announced a new luxury resale service powered by Reflaunt. This service, which recently started at NET-A-PORTER, enables clients to contribute to a more circular fashion system by reselling and extending the lives of preowned designer items. The service will be launched at MR PORTER and THE OUTNET in early 2022. In May, we mentioned Panerai's Submersible eLAB-ID watch and Chloé's use of recycled cashmere. Now I would like to highlight a couple of other sustainable product initiatives. Cartier launched its first-ever, solar-powered watch, the Tank Must. The strap is made from scraps of apples grown for the food industry. Chloé introduced the new Chloé Lou line at the spring/summer '22 runway show. The soles are made in collaboration with Ocean Sole, a social enterprise that up-cycles flip flops which have been found washed up along the beaches and waterways in Kenya. We're extremely proud that Chloé obtained recognition for their commitment to sustainability by becoming the first luxury Maison to achieve the very demanding B Corp certification, meeting the highest social and high environmental performance standards. In conclusion, I can say that we are confident in the unique appeal of our Maisons and timelessness of their creations for the heritage, craftsmanship, aesthetics, creativity and joy they bring to clients. This appeal is demonstrated by the strong sales experienced by our Maisons and businesses. We have emerged stronger from the pandemic with a 24% sales increase versus the same period 2 years ago. We have further benefited from the structural growth in online luxury, thanks to our past and ongoing investments in digital. However, we are not going to rest. We are working on improving the customer experience through continued enhancements to the online offer. These improvements include upgraded apps, new e-commerce offerings and the deployment of a hybrid model at our online distributors. We've maintained financial discipline, notably in terms of capital allocation. The pandemic is not over yet, therefore, we have and will continue to maintain good cost control. This, combined with higher sales, enabled us to generate a strong operating profit of almost EUR 2 billion and significantly increased operating margin of 21.9% as well as the cash flow from operating activities that nearly doubled to EUR 1.8 billion. Our profit for the period increased more than 6-fold to EUR 1.2 billion. Our balance sheet is strong with a net cash position of EUR 3.1 billion. We're making progress on our movement for better luxury through the many initiatives I just talked about, notably the validation of our Science Based Targets. We are taking steps to ensure all these ambitious sustainability objectives will be met. For the second half of the year, I would like to remind you that we will be facing demanding comparatives in a world still faced with volatility. However, opportunities abound, our Maisons are strong and the enduring nature of the creations is aligned with clients' values and perceptions. This concludes our presentation. Thank you for your attention, and I will now hand back over to Sophie.

Thank you, Burkhart. So we will start the Q&A session shortly. [Operator Instructions] Thank you. And the floor is yours.

[Operator Instructions] The first question comes from the line of Antoine Belge with Exane BNP Paribas.

It's Antoine at Exane BNP Paribas. So 2 questions. First of all, with regards to the very strong margin that you achieved, especially in Jewellery Maisons and Specialist Watchmakers, how sustainable are these margins? In other words, I mean, should we expect much stronger investment in certain areas that could mean that these H1 margins were, I wouldn't say artificial, but a bit boosted by the fact that you couldn't really spend as much as you would have liked? Second question relates to the announcement...

Antoine, we couldn't have what? We didn't hear you, what you said.

Yes. Just on the -- maybe in H1, there was still some restriction in terms of events and maybe you would have liked to spend more but you couldn't. So maybe in the second half, it means more cost. That was the thinking behind the first question. The second question is more on this announcement regarding YNAP. If you could elaborate a little bit what it means in terms of operation, but also, does it mean that you will pretty soon be able to deconsolidate YNAP from the -- at least at the EBIT level and that you would consolidate minority stake below the EBIT line? Yes, that's the -- any sort of granularity on this announcement, please?

Yes. Antoine, just on the first question about sustainability, the answer is what do I know? I don't mean this flippant, but I don't -- or we don't know what the second half of the year will bring from a sales perspective, from a COVID perspective. And secondly, you know through your models that we always have a higher spend in the second half of the year. Due to the seasonality with Christmas, Chinese New Year...

Watches & Wonders.

Watches & Wonders coming up, which is new because it's going to be, again, in the digital format on a larger format -- sorry, physical scale, so it's going to be in a larger setting as we have the other brands joining us, so the spend pattern is always slightly skewed towards the second half of the year. So obviously, this is a very classical mechanical effect that we'll have. We, I think, have, and that you've seen in the rebound of the ad spend or advertising and communication spend, more than doubled communication spend in the first half because events have restarted. Physical events have restarted and whilst we've continued to invest across the entire spectrum, including in digital channels. So we're very happy about the first year -- the first half results and -- but we'll continue to invest into our businesses where we see the need. To the second question, we've -- on YNAP, we said this over quite a long period of time now, we've updated regularly that we are looking at ways how to build an industry-wide platform. This is going back to 2015 when our Chairman first voiced the idea, and we've -- also with you and me, we've spoken about this in the past. And step by step, I think we're now approaching a vision where we have first partnered with Alibaba in China then with Alibaba and Farfetch in China. And we've also said a year ago that we wish to enlarge this partnership and explore ways of how to make it happen. And we have also said that we will update our shareholders, investors, analysts when we see significant progress. So that is why we have put out today's announcement saying that we've made significant progress. We're confident that we will be able to build this partnership not only with Farfetch and their superior technology, but also with other potential investors. And we've had strong demand from potential investors to join this initiative. And here, we're not talking about financial investors, but very interested parties to join this initiative. How will it look in the end game? We have clearly indicated that we see this as a neutral industry-wide platform with no controlling shareholder. So I think that should answer the question.

Okay. Maybe just a follow-up on the cost. That 8% communications to sales ratio in H1, I mean is that a fair assumption for the second half? And for Specialist Watchmakers, I think in the past, you had mentioned that like a mid-teens percentage of sales, margin would be achievable and that 22% is well above...

The second question, Antoine, if we can leave for others, that would be nice. So maybe just on the question on communication ratio.

Yes. Listen, I mean when you look at our historic numbers, we've, on the communication ratio, have more been in the range between 9% and 10%. 9% is the ratio for the first half. This is a confirmed number. If I would be able to project out the sales number for the second half, then I could also give you the communication ratio for the second half, but I can't. But let's just say, we will continue to invest into our Maisons wherever we see fit and at which level we ever see fit.

The next question comes from the line of Louise Singlehurst with Goldman Sachs.

And I'm actually just going to follow up with a question on YNAP. And I guess firstly on that, obviously -- and Burkhart, you were just explaining the prior question how the thinking probably has evolved. But what are you seeing in terms of how the consumer is shopping? Is it because we need this marketplace structure going forward to provide better flexibility, both from your perspective on the cost and from the consumer perspective? And how do you view the online platform landscape long term, not necessarily with just YNAP, but is there like a dominant player with the multiple partners going forward? And just with regards to Farfetch, presumably, you're very happy with the relationship given the China JV and the extended partnership discussions today. But is there anything you can tell us about China and that JV, which started in August? And then my second question, just to ask the margin question in a slightly different way with the Jewellery Maisons. I think in the past, we've talked about like low 30s as a structural kind of margin going forward. Is it fair to say that you're exiting the pandemic with a potentially higher structural margin going forward for that division?

Louise, can I probably ask the second question first -- answer the second question first?

Go ahead.

I did not guide on the low 30s. I said above 30, I'm a happy man, which would mean below 30, I'm an unhappy man. So...

Yes, but I also -- Johann here. I also have a view on happy and unhappy. Louise, it depends upon the product mix.

Absolutely, yes.

Great.

Louise, I'll do that first one. It's Johann here. In 2015, at the FT Conference, I asked, in fact, beseeched other industry players to join us on a neutral platform stating that I didn't think that even the biggest player could do this alone because it would take too much money and that we needed an industry effort. In those days, I was looking at in the West, Amazon, an amazing business; and in the East, Alibaba. At that conference, José Neves was at the conference. Unfortunately, it later on turned out that he was a bit too shy because I went outside for a smoke with about 7, 8 people. And while I didn't meet him, his wife came along. He later on told us that he said to his wife, if these guys do what they're doing, we don't have a business. But sadly, it didn't come to me. We didn't meet. And as usual, as my son predicted, prisoner's dilemma ensued where we all acted in our own worst interest. We continued with a linear model. And we made mistakes on route, not the mistakes that you necessarily and some of the analysts have alluded to and referred to, but we did make mistakes. But we realized that we have to get to a hybrid model. But the 1P curated model was attractive to the Chinese consumers. So we got approached by Alibaba. We went and we did a deal with Alibaba where they have performed marvelously. They've acted as true partners, and we learned and continue to learn an enormous amount on a daily basis. And I think you've all seen Singles' Day alone yesterday, they did USD 84.5 billion. More importantly, they deliver it. Selling, it's one thing. Delivering it, incredible ecostructure, the old ecosystem. Then José approached them, and through Alibaba, we got to name a few years ago, 2 years ago. And ever since, we've been in communication. But obviously, he wanted to get to know us because he is an entrepreneur that has built a brilliant tech business. We wanted to understand his tech better. And obviously, before we have online shop, AFS businesses, we wanted to really understand our route to market through the online business. He, on the other hand, was loved, correctly, to do a deal that would dilute or impair his EBITDA and his cash flow. So he had to understand our business and our attitude better. So I think we've now gotten to a solution where he would not have impairment of any kind and where he would have growth and we would get access to that quite remarkable technology. It's been a long business discussion. We said that we'd update you on a regular basis. And obviously, we are getting to a stage now where we're getting close to a meeting of minds, very close. And as such, it's disclosable. But if this follows 2 years of both sides realizing we'd like to do the deal, but finding a way in which to do it that would meet our demand, so this is not a spin-off. This is not a caveat. This is the realization of a dream of some 6 years ago. And despite all the comments, I've said to the press this morning that I'm reminded of an old friend of mine, that captain, he's in a rugby team, when he said to me after the match, it's quite remarkable. We have 30 idiots on the field playing in front of 60,000 experts. So to give you just a bit of comfort, industry players would not be approaching us to invest into this new neutral platform, new cash if the business is like described on a regular basis because the new players would have to come in with cash to join. And these people obviously would like a neutral platform. I would not put our business into somebody controlled by an industry competitor. So it has to be neutral. So I would envisage this as a neutral platform powered by the remarkable, truly remarkable technology of Farfetch. When Alibaba told me in the beginning when they introduced us, that they could not replicate that technology, and that was 1.5 years, 2 years ago. Our investigations -- because we had our teams, our techie teams meeting with theirs, and this confirmed to us that they are the ideal partner. I don't know whether that answers, Louise, the rationale or...

Thank you very much for your insight there, Mr. Rupert. Much appreciated.

Thanks, Louise.

The next question comes from the line of Zuzanna Pusz with UBS.

So I have just 2, I'll stick to the rule. The first one, I know you don't really like to comment on trends month by month. And I know we always really are not here with that, but there seems to have been quite a lot of volatility last quarter. And Jewellery Maisons accelerated a lot on the 2-year stack in Q1. Now in Q2, it decelerated a little bit. So is there any chance you could maybe give us a little bit more color around the cadence within the quarter. So I guess I presume just that we've heard in the industry, there was probably a bit of a dip in August, but I would be just curious to know if given the volatility you mentioned yourself in the press release, if things towards the end of the quarter actually went back to the trends you were seeing in the beginning of the quarter. Or was there still a little bit of volatility? So that's my first question. And my second question is on Online Distributors. So there was a very nice acceleration in growth sequentially despite the fact that in the prior quarters, I would say growth was rather consistent around high single digits. So -- and I realize you did finish the replatforming, and I did benefit from it myself as a consumer. I have to say, it definitely has improved the customer service and everything. But that was, I think, towards the end of the quarter. So is there anything specific you could call out that has driven the improvement of growth in Online Distributors? Is there -- obviously maybe the pricing environment improved or any color you could give on that would be very helpful.

Yes. Zuzanna, just -- I'm struggling a bit with your first question. I mean you say there's a bit of a deceleration, the Jewellery Maisons and the 2-year stack. I mean, yes, sure. So 43% down to 39%. I don't really have the capability to read anything into that, to be honest. Let me give you a general comment. The pandemic on and off is still with us. Other volatility factors are affecting our business, notably the discussion about inflation creeping up and probably staying there for longer than we all think. I think the discussion about and the scare that the investment community had about China growth rates slowing sharply, which with the share price reactions we saw at both directions, first down and then back up. Volatility is part of our business in this environment, and I would say we've come out higher than our expectations were for this quarter and for this half year. And I think what you have to also look at is that there is balance in our businesses and balance in our regional spread. We're very strong in Asia. We have a very strong business development in the Americas, notably in the United States. That has been far outpacing, I think, everybody's expectations across the industry. I think Europe has had very strong sales growth as well, 63% back to -- almost back to levels we've seen pre-pandemic. And the Middle East has remained strong. Japan, today, as we know, is a bit behind the curve of dealing with the pandemic with renewed lockdowns throughout the period, and that has been difficult. So month-on-month, I won't comment. We've had a bit of volatility between the different months. That is clear. But we've had a very healthy mix of regions. And if you compare it to the situation a year ago, we are today flying on more cylinders or driving more cylinders than we've been doing a year ago. And I think that is what we look at. We have a very healthy mix between regions, and that actually protect us against shorter volatility in one given region. So far, we are on the same trends following the first half results numbers. Jérôme, do you want to comment on the Online Distributors probably?

Maybe -- it's Johann here. Maybe we can say that the -- we can see the direct results of swings between offline and online in terms of lockdowns. When a city in China goes into lockdown, they obviously cannot get to the distribution. Luckily, we have online. So it is -- that's one of the reasons why it's so incredibly valuable to have a strong online business, a luxury new retail omnichannel presence. Looking at the world and looking at the vaccination rates, we do not think that is going to be an easy exit from the pandemic. The Chinese model will lock a city down if they have 3 or 4 infections. Who knows how long it's going to take to get even the fully vaccinated countries, boosters, et cetera, et cetera. So yes, we will have volatility and especially between online and offline. But luckily, we are now positioned where the customers have the choice. I don't know whether that helps you in terms of the question.

No, that's very helpful. I guess maybe just to rephrase it a bit. What I was trying to understand because, obviously, we have to think of kind of when we model kind of what we can expect. And I guess none of us have really a crystal ball. But just to get an idea...

Well, sorry, neither do we. If you can tell me the Fed, fun, right? If you can tell me whether they expect whether the inflation is going to exceed the federal reserve expectation, then I would sell everything I've got, if I had to be served and I'd go into the bond market. And I really think the current -- the MMT theories, the excess liquidity, I think not only COVID, but we will experience a lot of volatility in the coming years.

But Johann, you shouldn't say that you would sell everything because then the question comes again if you would sell to a competitor.

No, I'm not selling. I would say if anybody could give me certainty on interest rates, you would have to be absolutely out of your mind to be in the equity market.

And I absolutely got -- that question you suggested absolutely was not on my mind.

We are not sellers or mergers.

But lastly -- no, so okay, so I was just -- I guess I don't have a crystal ball, but I guess you may have something closer to a crystal ball being in the business. But I guess I just wanted to understand...

Zuzanna, just -- Zuzanna, we don't have the crystal ball. We can only look at the business on a day-to-day, on a month-by-month basis. And usually, what you do with volatility is to try to manage it with a steady hand, and that's what we're doing.

And maybe we can move on to...

Sorry, if I could just finally say, that's why Burkhart and I went into the market and got long-term capital at 1.3%?

Yes.

1.3%. Now average, I think maturity is just under 12, 11?

11 years, yes.

Okay. So we're trying to be in a position to be hedged either way.

Okay. Perfect. I won't be following up because I don't want to be in trouble with Sophie and James.

The next question comes from the line of Edouard Aubin with Morgan Stanley.

So just 2 questions for me. The first one on Jewellery Maisons, Burkhart, you mentioned the incredible strong growth in the U.S. in the half. So I don't think Cyrille has spoken yet, so I'd just be curious to have his view on how sustainable U.S. demand is. What's cyclical? What's structural? And if your -- the profile of your customers has changed in the U.S. over the past few quarters. So that's question number one. And then question number two is on the watches as a category. So over the past few years, investors have been sometimes negative on the category's prospects due to a number of reasons. And one of them was the fact that watches tend to under-index with women. However, today, given how much male millennials and Gen Z have made with alternative asset classes and, for example, cryptocurrencies, I was looking at the numbers recently, I mean you're talking $2 trillion over the past 12 months. Being more exposed to male might actually be a positive. And I just wanted to have your opinion on that, if you are seeing a change in terms of the profile of your customers for watches around the world.

Thank you. Cyrille, you want to take the first question?

Yes, please. Yes, so we have seen a very robust growth in the U.S., but for about 1.5 years now, but which already had started longer than that. And so U.S. remains the largest economy and has been supported the economy recently. And so we see affluent customers growing basically everywhere. So I think that this will continue. As Burkhart said, there can be some volatility everywhere. But for that, we think that the U.S. remains a very good growth market for us. So it will not stay where it is, and we'll continue seeing the competitors' also overall sales in the big group to say there is a very substantiated affluent market there.

I think if -- that can just be confirmed by Nicolas who is actually -- we have a little competition between the 2 at the moment, and Nicolas is more productive per employees. So maybe we should ask him.

Yes, that's fine margin.

That's fine margin, but we look at metrics.

No, thank you. I think we're seeing the same trends. I mean the potential in the U.S. has always been very, very high. We see a lot of wealth that's consolidating. If you think, for instance, of Southern California, the trends in the last few years and the perspective for the coming years seems very, very promising. And when we talk a lot about the opportunity in the non-branded market for a jewelry brand, America is probably the prime opportunity. They are still very, very strong, and there was a very, very strong, let's say, volume of sales driven to a traditional non-branded jewelers. And we see a shift in the consumers going towards international brands and the opportunity for Cartier, for Van Cleef & Arpels, for major brands in America, and the future remains very, very high.

Thanks, Nicolas. And Jérôme?

Jérôme?

Yes. Thank you for the question for the watches, Edouard. Indeed there are -- or say you noticed an acceleration in the trend for the watch category within Richemont. It's also visible into the Swiss watchmaking exporter statistic, which is also showing a robust rebound. I would tend to say there is 3 factors in this one. One, you -- it's very true is that the male clientele is more and more active. And we spoke from the Euro, we spoke just from the U.S. for jewelries. It's also the case for watches. There is 2 other factors that we could add to that. It is that our clients in the watch category are younger and younger. And we had to feel -- or can see a good decade ago that, that new generation would not enter into the watches or would prefer smart watches. But in fact, it has been an add-on, an additional wear. And we see now having this multiple -- buy of multiple watches are spreading around. And for sure, the resale value, and you know that we have a secondhand Maison with Watchfinder or pre-loved Maison with Watchfinder that is active in that domain has helped a lot. The third element is that let's do not forget the female clientele for the watches, in particular in Asia, which is adoring the category and has been as well entering into the mood of multiple buy and multiple watches. So to that factor that you are right, it's strong, you can have these 2. Thank you.

If I could just -- it's Johann here. If I could just maybe give a bit of background. 2016, you've heard the story online. A year later, we had a global watch plot because everybody, we all experienced 30%-plus growth, and we sold in. And the sell-in turned out to be too big. We took drastic action, which you folks, again, had very many opinions on. But they were 2 -- I would say, 2.5 very big competitors who were not listed, who had the luxury of doing it outside the gaze of critics, and they also cleaned up the market and cut their volumes. Obviously, this cut into our operating profits, online plus that drastic action. And then COVID struck. So despite all of that, we managed to deliver proper results. Now the market is clean. The watch market is cleaner, and I've been around 35 years watching from Cartier and then on and on and on. And I can state categorically that the market is cleaner today than during any other preceding period. This is illustrated by waiting lists in a number of the Maisons and upon discounts no longer being needed. So the watch category got cleaned up and is very healthy at the moment.

The next question comes from the line of Jon Cox with Kepler Cheuvreux.

Congratulations on the great print there this morning. A couple of questions for you, if I can. One is just on this whole -- the situation in China currently. As you correctly point out, maybe some of us overreacted on the sort of common prosperity. Just wondering if you're seeing any impact there. And you mentioned as well that comparables are getting -- going to get difficult in the second half of the year. Just wondering what we should think about that, again, particularly in China. And Mr. Rupert, you're on the call. Obviously, there's a lot of stuff about the whole Third Point, Artisan, maybe talking to you guys about this and the other. I wondered if you want to be on the record at all and a comment on that.

Well, that's a couple of loaded questions, Jon. China, what President Xi did had been signaled for a while and is enormously popular in China. He did not say stop consumption. What they're against is against a vulgar display of the disparity of wealth. And if you look at the economics of China, it's been an investment-driven economy. Now they are not backing off the drive to have consumption growth. And they have not signaled anything against our products, for instance, but they wanted to calm down the vulgar, which we've really also -- I've also had a problem for years with the disparity and the Gini coefficient. Obviously, also did that with the dopamine effect of the children being addicted to being online all the time. Both of these are very, very popular decisions. And you have to remember that a year from now is the Congress. So a lot of it is internal. It is very popular. It is not meant at us. I think the -- we can't comment on Mr. Loeb. I think he clearly took us more seriously than you guys did when we said that we were going to find a solution for online, and he clearly is a very sophisticated investor. And he did what anybody else could do, which is to buy shares. If he did and how many, we can't comment on the...

Share register.

On share -- on the share register, we've never done so. But obviously, we're looking at today's prices. If he -- whatever he bought, we could not see it in the September results because it was not on his list. But good luck to him. He made money. What was the second question?

That was it, China.

That was the second question.

China, oh, that was -- sorry, Jon.

The next question comes from the line of Thomas Chauvet with Citi.

Two questions, please. The first one, both on watches, actually following up. The first one, on the Spec Watchmaker, the profitability is now 22%. It's only half year, but it's already ahead of your own 20% target, probably ahead of your schedule. Mr. Rupert alluded to some of the reasons for that success. I mean you restructured distribution, you rolled out e-commerce, taken cost out. What are the next steps for returning to a sustainable growth path in that volatile business? And perhaps previous level of profitability, the peak was around 26%, 27%, obviously, a different era pre-gifting crack down. And secondly, a question perhaps for Cyrille on Cartier watches, so within Jewellery Maisons. I'm hearing a lot of positive feedback from some European, U.S. watch retailers on Cartier's new products, on the sellout. What's the growth of Cartier watches on a 2-year stack in the first half ahead of the growth of the Spec Watchmaker? And can this business within Jewellery Maisons contribute to further margin expansion actually in the future? I guess that business is probably not back to previous peak unlike the Jewellery division.

If I could just say, our goal in the watch division has been to get more partnerships and fewer partners. Now what we have managed to do, our partners are very, very happy because they now have more profitable partnerships with us, so much so that we see that more and more of them are willing to invest their own capital in stores and boutiques. So it's a healthy business where our partners, because we really look at them as partners, are doing better as well. That's a medium-term trend. It's certainly a trend that we welcome. And in terms of Cartier versus the rest, et cetera, et cetera, we don't really want to go into that because we're looking at our business as a watch industry. And please don't use the abbreviation spec, say Specialist because to me, spec is a spec home and a spec -- so Specialist on behalf of my colleagues. But...

I agree. Thomas, if I might just add to that, we've had these discussions for a number of years now. And I think we've been very consistent in saying we have to do what is right for the watch business, and we have to do what we believe is the best way, the best set of actions to clean up the market. And we've had these discussions about buybacks. We've had the discussion about the short-term impact. All these discussions creeping in about market share, and the answer was very consistent, I think. And now that we see that incredibly hard work by the teams in the watch Maisons and at Cartier as well, and all our Maisons that sell watches are present in the same watch market. It's incredibly hard work and very consistent over time. We see very strong results coming out of it, which in a way is not just trying to write the inventory equation in the market, but what you must also see behind it is that the incredible attractiveness of our products very significantly benefits to that because customers see value, see their values reflected in the products they acquire across our watch Maisons. So it is incredibly hard work with a very consistent strategy that is now playing out. Now we will not, because we have achieved good half year results, now become delusional about the watch market and that it's going to change structurally with growth exploding, et cetera. But we do believe that we have built up strong positions in the Maisons, and we'll continue to work on that basis. And we'll not now go overboard.

I would just add -- Jérôme speaking. I would just add to what they said is the very strong work done around the icon of each Maisons during the last 5 years where it has been a constant work of creativity, of innovation within the Maisons to develop a Pilot line at IWC or Reverso at Jaeger. And what we see today is in somehow the result of this action. So we have a Chairman that often says that it is not about numbers, it's about the actions they can bring to members. And I want to believe that what we see now surfacing more and more is the result of this hard work. And I'm sure you all noticed how our Maisons has longer -- or have seen -- I would say, its price and reselling value of some of these products are rising to incredible level.

As an example.

As an example. Thank you.

The next question comes from the line of Anne-Laure Bismuth with HSBC.

So I have 2 questions. The first one, if I'm not wrong, you said during the presentation that you refurbished [ 58 ] Cartier stores. I'm just wondering what is the plan in terms of refurbishment? How fast do you plan to go with that? What is the pace? And the second question is about the CapEx. So CapEx to sales were a bit more than 3% in H1. So is it -- should it remain around this level for the full year? So what is the guidance in terms of CapEx for the full year?

Cyrille, on Cartier? Do you want to start with that?

Yes, yes, I will comment on the first. So we had made clear for the past year that we had to anyway renovate the entire network. And so we had 270, so we are coming about more than 1/3 now. And so the plan in the coming 2, 3 years is to finish all these. So it's going to fast speed and doing well. So the -- it's just as planned. We had to be a bit slower during the pandemic, first, because there were some COVID restrictions, and then also we do this also cash sensitive, but then now we are resuming the normal speed.

Okay, thank you. Thanks, Cyrille. Just on CapEx, in general, I mean if you look across the last, I don't know, 10 years, we've been somewhere between 5% and 8% at the height of it. We're comfortable with 5%, but it really depends on which stage you are. And let us also understand that over time, the nature of CapEx spend will shift from, as we build luxury new retail footprint, will shift probably more into technology and out of physical CapEx.

But if -- this is Johann. To preempt a few other questions, I'm quite surprised that analysts in general does depend on -- in this -- I'm not being industry specific, on not questioning and asking questions about what it's going to cost business in general, not only industry, but finance everywhere, the cost of doing the right thing. In terms of emissions, now we are committed -- I've been involved for 35 years. I never knew what we were doing, but I guess it's now called rewilding. We are rewilding a piece of land in Africa that's bigger than the size of France. So we've been involved in studying carbon emissions, that all of our footprints, I'm pretty okay with this because I managed to get our family carbon negative by building my own hydroelectric plant and by planting carbon sinks, a magnificent South African plant called the Spekboom, that 1 hectare currently sequestrates 8 tonnes per year. And we should, as humanity, not only analysts, really realize how important this is. This is a far wider, broader, deeper aspect. Luckily, COVID made us more introspective. And people sat back and really thought what we should be doing. Now we cannot quantify that as society, but we should, as the luxury goods industry, be very, very careful what we're doing. We are incredibly fortunate. Sometimes, we act like Euros and we all think this and that. We are not that special. And quite frankly, we're not necessary. If you're talking about energy, electricity, food production, where do we come on the food chain? Still last. We are nice to have. So we have to be especially careful about our carbon footprint, what products we use in our manufacturing process. And quite frankly, society and investors will not tolerate any slackness from us as luxury goods producers. So we have committed to science space. We've gone -- we've done studies and we're continuously doing that. And I suspect I've got a pretty clear understanding. And just to make you happy, it will not be as expensive as online for those of you who continually worry. But we will do the right thing that we, for instance, announced PVC because it's nonrecyclable. Now I don't think the luxury goods industry can be compared to making pipes that are used in Africa where it's the only alternative in very many places for light pipes to transport water. But we -- why are we doing? Why are we putting a nonrecyclable plastic? Why are we doing that? We should be asking ourselves many, many questions. We are going to have traceability. One of the most interesting things is at [ Viceroy ], they had a module in the educational month and the most watched, wanted related to traceability and to blockchain. I nicely thought all of my colleagues were getting into cryptocurrency, and that bothered the heck out of me. But then I found out, no, they are so serious that they wanted to understand it and where our previous CEO, Norbert Platt, and I had a heck of a job pushing through SAP. I mean this was pushing water uphill. ESG and doing the right thing is water flowing downhill. Every colleague of ours, male, female, young, old, everybody is onboarded. Do we think this is going to make us sell more product? I don't think so. I don't -- doing the right thing, having empathy with the environment, with your grandchildren we're not doing that to sell more. We're doing it in a sense, I suppose, and here, I'm stealing Cyrille's line, where he said to me, I don't think we've necessarily look at flying the safest airline in the world. It happens to be Qantas. I would still -- I mean I shouldn't say it, but I would still try Singapore. But will any of us fly on the unsafest airline in the world? I doubt that. So now I think that we're going to have to watch ESG. Certainly, I hope the investors keep all of us under its close scrutiny because the planet demands it and our grandchildren demand it. So -- and -- but I don't see anybody trying to quantify the costs in their discounted cash flows, not with financial institutions, not with industry with -- nowhere. And I would urge you to start finding people that can do proper ESG studies, not like some of the tripe that I've read recently, but real studies finding out where the factories are. Other factories, in fact, semi-assembled and then transported, what is the true footprint? What is the really real carbon footprint of what we're doing? And I would urge you to start putting that and your colleagues that cover other industries because I do believe it's a given. I do believe we have to do it. And I don't see anybody -- please don't ask me about CapEx of a store. We are on the continuous refurbishment. We've been doing that for 30 years. We work in cycles. It's very disciplined. We look at the return on invested capital per boutique. It's a very disciplined approach. But I urge you, there are things that's not quantifiable at the moment. We will have to make, as humanity, we're going to have to make investments. And as Burkhart said, as our sales mix change and more and more goes online, I think there'll be another variable, which is IT costs, which hopefully will replace fixed cost leases. So at least it will be a variable cost because the model more and more in IT is pay as you go. So it's more flexible and not having long-term contracts. I hope that gives you a clarity -- a bigger clarity on our philosophy.

The next question comes from the line of Thierry Cota with Societe Generale.

Two questions for me. First, I'd like to hear your analysis on the current dynamics of the jewelry market worldwide. We see the relaunch of Tiffany. We see a more subdued performance of Bulgari. So I was wondering how you see the positioning of your 2 large jewelry assets, how do you see it evolving in that context, notably from a product, ASP spend and distribution angles. And notably, I would be interested whether you have any plans to enter the silver market, if you contemplate any more aggressive policy on Cartier net store openings. And lastly, if you think that a structural rise in A&P for the industry as a whole is likely. And secondly, on YNAP, I was wondering whether you keep your...

Thierry, sorry, you said entering what market? Yes...

Silver market.

Oh, silver.

I said -- I'm talking too fast.

So in the beginning, you said the relaunch of who?

Well, Tiffany was relaunched...

No, he asked about the structural -- basically, he's asking about the structural.

Yes.

What is your analysis and how you are reacting?

We do not comment on opposition. And now we -- and Thierry, if there's anything truly important that we're considering, do you really think I'm going to tell the analysts that so that our opposition can see what we're planning to do? Please, I mean, that would be rather silly of me and my colleagues. We're very happy with the growth in the jewelry. We're very, very happy with where the desirability is, that both Cartier and Van Cleef have desirable products, and now Buccellati also. The brand equity is continuously increasing. So we're happy and we try not to comment on our competitors.

And maybe just the last point, on ASP spend, do you think that we're going to face a structural rise in the industry's intensity in terms of advertising and promotion spending or not particularly?

I think the mix is going to change. And we always look at it as trying -- we contain it in looking at a percentage of sales. So if your sales go up by 30% a year, then yes, you will spend more. When a new brand launch is there, maybe you'll spend a bit more. But we look at it in terms of -- we have ratios, very strong ratios. So if we continue to grow, yes, you should expect a rise.

And the ratio as well would rise, you think, for the industry as a whole or not particularly?

I have no idea what our opponents want to do. The stronger your brand equity and the more desirable you are, the more flexible you can be. But if you're trying to build brand equity, you may have to spend a lot more.

Okay. And I had a second question on YNAP. I was wondering whether you keep your target of EBITDA breakeven for the year given what you published on H1. And when you mentioned no controlling shareholders eventually for YNAP, I was wondering whether listing the asset was an option.

Well, we have looked at every single option, and the best option at the moment is what we're busy with, which is to have like what I asked for in 2016, to have -- 2015, sorry. Sorry, my boss has spoken here, Sophie, okay, 2015. We then believed and we believe now that it should be a neutral platform. And we believe that I would certainly not commit our Maisons into a platform controlled by an opposing company. And therefore, obviously, our opposition, other Maisons would expect the same. That's why I pleaded in 2015 for a neutral platform powered by the best tech. And I think we're getting there because we know the best tech now. It's taken us 2 years to fully understand how advanced Farfetch truly is. And so we'll have the best tech provider, and it will be a neutral platform. And I hate to tell you, I'm not one of these people who think that we're going to have no hurdle rates for the rest of our lives with 0 or minus percent interest rates, where people who are losing a fortune are rewarded for it. In the end, cash flow is needed. So the tech values may be affected when real interest rates return, which may return quicker than we all think. I'm not betting on it. But we cannot have negative interest rates at infinite. I mean it's wiping out the middle classes. Currently, only the people with capital, those are the people that are benefiting from these low interest rates, and it will be intolerable to maintain. Already, we're seeing inflation propping up everywhere.

Okay. So that's not very much in favor of the option of listing a new tech asset then?

No, listen, Thierry, let me...

No, it's -- Farfetch is listed. Sorry, Farfetch is listed. It is a tech company. So it's, in any case, it's way too soon to decide. We are putting -- the newcomers are putting cash in. We are looking at this as a great route to market. And I think what helped the push was COVID because we had newcomers, industry newcomers approaching us out of the blue when they realized their sensitivity when their stores got shut. So we had people, big names that you will know, approaching us to join this joint venture.

We can move maybe to the next question...

Okay. Just on the EBITDA maybe, target for the year?

If it's still...

Thierry, we'll discuss that later on when we speak.

Thank you. So we're moving to the -- I think we'll probably be the last question. It's already 11:15. We can move to the next one, the last one.

The last question comes from the line of Rey Wium with SBG Securities.

I was just very curious about the performance of the, if I can call it, the soft luxury brands in the other units. I mean I know there is an included -- I think it's a profit of EUR 24 million on the real estate. But even if you strip it out, it turned into profit. So I think it's the first time since 2007 that this unit has turned into profit. So I was just curious if you maybe can just talk a little bit about what business has turned around. And maybe specifically about performances brand-wise, whether Dunhill has come to the party or was it just Peter Millar and so forth.

[Foreign Language]

Yes [Foreign Language].

I'm just joking. I'm saying I'll answer in African so maybe everybody else can't listen.

Everybody got that?

But sorry. Yes. Okay, I'll leave that to Jérôme.

Yes. And I am first to excuse myself that I will only be capable to answer in a broken English for the trend of fashion and accessory. So now for fashion and accessory, indeed, we have had a stronger top line development from our Maisons month after month. It started very nicely with Peter Millar. And I would have to say, for Peter Millar, it's already a good 18 months that the performance are really truly amazing and at a very sizable size now. It has been followed afterwards by Chloé. They have been really enjoying a great journey with the second collection of now Gabriela Hearst. The first collection has been now on the floor and is enjoying a very strong sell-through since the start of September, and it's also true for the other categories. And then it has been Montblanc for all their retail and their e-commerce activities from the month of September, up to Alaïa as well that is enjoying a stronger journey. So again, creativity, innovation, strong products is that what moves the whole category in a new dynamic. It's the start of a journey. So we will still have to go through the end of travel retail. We still have to see the further development of that. But here, we are really enjoying a better journey. Not to underestimate that this Maison have been enjoying luxury new retail at full speed over already the old COVID time. And this Maison have now a penetration of e-commerce largely over 20% for the most development in e-commerce. And in these days, we are sometimes close, open, close -- shop open or shop close, it's a further acceleration.

You're right. If I could add what I said to the colleagues from the press this morning, we firstly had to do online, then we cleaned up the market, then we had COVID. Having done that successfully, we are now looking at our fashion and accessories now. So that's the next one on the list. Now a lot of things have changed in the last 18 months, 2 years during COVID. Firstly, online became a reality and the penetration of online globally, including in the United States, where people are now used to it. Now our Maisons were being pushed out of retail by our big competitors. The likes of Dunhill got kicked out of the Peninsula. I won't go into all the areas. Now 2 things. As a result, fewer stores had to absorb higher head office costs. And the asset turnover obviously dropped. A new dynamic is that the power ratio between landlords and brand owners has seen a dramatic shift. And suddenly people who treated some of my colleagues with disdain have become very friendly. Plus, it's easier to absorb bad office costs when you've got online as a route to market. Plus, fast fashion will face some real issues from an ESG and from a societal point. And as Coco Chanel says -- or said, sorry, style stays, fashion goes. And I suspect circularity, buying clothes that last for more than 1 year or 1 season will become the acceptable. And if you focus on style that stays, that is another dynamic that will create a little bit of tailwind for the majority of our Fashion & Accessory Maisons. So there's been a power shift and a societal change. Plus, having now done online, having fixed the watch market and having survived COVID, I think we're in a pretty strong position to go ahead. And it's a good question you asked. Also, I thank you for asking the question because I forgot to say what I told the press this morning. I don't know whether that helps.

Yes, no, very much. So in essence, what you are sort of alluding is that online or the advent of online will make it easier for the smaller brands.

Globally, not only ours. If you think, Rey, you -- we had to look demographically in the past. Is there a big enough base of clients in X, Y, Z town or city? And only a certain number of people in that town or city had the spending power or the taste or choice. Today, we're already seeing in China in the third and fourth tier cities, how we discover clients that love brands that can now access it online. So you've got to start -- we, not you, we, all of us have to think more psychographically in having specific targets. I mean it's a very small thing, but the [ purdy ] people started developing clothing. And we have an incredible client list of people who psychographically are attracted to those products. So it proves that if you have the right taste, you have the right product at, obviously, the right price, taste, product, then you have a far bigger reach through online because that's a variable cost. You don't have to open a boutique. So there's a power shift going on in -- but the key thing is the desirability. I hope that helps somewhat.

So we've got -- we'll take one very last question.

We'll take one.

The last question comes from the line of Patrik Schwendimann with Zürcher Kantonalbank.

Patrik Schwendimann on the line. Congrats to the whole Richemont crew for these exceptional results. First question, Jewellery Maisons has been already 36% over 2019 in terms of sales. I think nobody would have expected this 1 year ago. Do you think there was also an extraordinary effect because consumers have saved money on other items like traveling and spent more on jewelry? And one related to it, what was the development between high jewelry, mid-price jewelry and entry-price-level jewelry? And just a technical one, how much was the gain on the real estate transaction?

I'll refer the jewelry questions to Nicolas and Cyrille. Let's start with that. Nicolas, you want to start, please?

Yes. Thank you, Burkhart. Thank you for your question. I think that, for sure, we've seen a very, very high level of savings among our clients. And probably some of it is linked to the absence of certain categories of expenses like traveling or holidays, and that has probably benefited the luxury industry and jewelry specifically. But it's not the only dynamic, and that's why we are quite confident that we should see some further opportunities in the future. And when it comes to categories, I think what we discussed a year ago is that during the worst moment of the COVID period, high jewelry suffered the most because there was the lack of events, a lack of opportunities to gather international collectors and clients and also a lack of opportunities to wear for more important pieces of jewelry, whereas more affordable and daywear pieces performed very, very well. And in the last 6 months, let's say, we've seen a progressive comeback also on high jewelry with still not many international events, but more and more regional or local events and opportunities to wear. And we see now high jewelry coming back where it was quite low a year ago. That's pretty much my take for Van Cleef & Arpels. I believe that Cyrille will probably have a few things to add.

Yes. On the high jewelry, exactly the same, that things are picking up. The difficulty last year was to organize the events and when customers could not move. It's a product category where people need to see what they buy and they want to try on. And so when there is no event, things come a bit slower. But as soon as we could reopen or when we organized even last year during the close of some areas, some events in China, we could see that when it was possible to organize, the appetite was still there. Then for the first question, say, jewelry is doing well, but it doesn't mean every brand is doing well. And as Johann has said, it's a question of brand equity. I think this crisis is a revelator. It's a moment of truth. So it's really strong with the customer base well balanced, are doing well and others not necessarily. And so on that, we are happy to see that the result of our brand development, Maisons activation for the past years have proved to work well. So we're quite happy with the results. And it's basically about all categories or customer base and even from generation, some young to older ones, and it's in jewelry that we have the youngest customer base overall. And it's not on cheap products. And we love mothers, and we love all customers from all generations. So we target them all, and we love them all inside our stores. They love us as well.

Sorry, there was an implied question that I actually think is a very clever question, which is, is there a bounce back with people that have got -- that saved a lot during COVID? And I think we have to assume that there was definitely a bounce back that's continuing. How long? I don't think anybody can calculate. But one thing that is interesting is how offline, online, how they move as equalizers as soon as the market that has been opened is closed. So wherever it's opened, and that's why Europe is lagging, Europe is still not properly open and there are no travelers as of yet. But where it opens, people actually like going out, like going to restaurants, like seeing people, they do shop. But we wondered what would happen afterwards. Well, we've seen that in China where they've opened, rapid demand. When they shut in certain cities, it moved to luxury new retail to online. So it's too early to say 6 months, a year from now, but currently, it seems to be sustainable.

So I think we'll conclude on these very positive words.

Thank you.

And thank you all for attending this half year presentation. If you got -- we couldn't answer all the questions, but if you've got some more questions, obviously, James and I are available to answer them, so please call us. And wishing you a very good Friday, and looking forward to reading the notes -- further notes later on today. Bye-bye.

Ladies and gentlemen, the conference is now over. Thank you for participating in the conference. You may now disconnect your lines. Goodbye.