Luxury group LVMH sales soar as Chinese consumers start to splurge

Sales at luxury goods group LVMH soared as Chinese shoppers bounced back from the world's strictest lockdowns and splashed out on luxury items.

Organic sales at the group's biggest unit, which sells fashion and leather goods, rose 18 per cent in the first quarter, LVMH said in a statement on Wednesday.

This was almost twice the gain that analysts were expecting from Europe's most valuable company.

The division's growth in China came in at a double-digit percentage, LVMH chief financial officer Jean-Jacques Guiony told analysts on a call.

LVMH was "extremely optimistic" about China in 2023, said Mr Guiony, adding that numbers in the first quarter "bode well for the rest of the year" there.

Shares of LVMH have rebounded by more than 20 per cent so far this year after the slump in Chinese demand began to recede and the mainland moved towards living with the coronavirus.