The Swiss luxury giant, whose other brands include fashion house Chloe and fountain pen maker Montblanc, posted €5.3 billion (US$6 billion) in global revenue in its first quarter ending in June.

It was a 14% increase from the same three-month period last year.

But it was lower than the €5.4 billion expected by analysts surveyed by Swiss news agency AWP.

The group reported a “strong rebound” in the Asia-Pacific region, excluding Japan, with revenue surging 40% to €2.2 billion at constant exchange rates.

The removal of Covid restrictions and the reopening of borders in China in January led to double-digit growth in the mainland and triple-digit increases in Hong Kong and Macau.

But sales fell 2% in the Americas to €1.1 billion, stemming from “lower wholesale sales and retail sales broadly aligned with the prior-year period”, the company said.

Richemont shares fell 7.8% to 141.90 Swiss francs (US$165.3) in mid-morning deals on the Swiss stock exchange.

Analysts said US consumers may be less tempted to spend on luxury items over concerns that the economy could slip into recession.

Richemont posted a “strong set of figures” overall, said Jon Cox, head of European consumer equities at Kepler Capital Markets.

“However, it was just shy of expectations with the watch and other segments along with the Americas maybe disappointing some in the market, who were maybe overly optimistic going into the print,” Cox told AFP.

While sales in China jumped, data on Monday showed the world’s second-biggest economy grew less than expected in the second quarter at 6.3%.