LVMH's first half returns to organic growth, with Japan among the markets it names as growing
LVMH's reported revenue fell 3% in the first half, but at constant currency it rose 2% — and Japan, where the group opened new flagships in Tokyo and Osaka, was one of the regions it named as posting growth.
LVMH reported first-half 2026 revenue of €38.6bn, down 3% from €39.81bn a year earlier on a reported basis, according to the group's own results release published 27 July. Stripped of currency and portfolio effects, the same period reads differently: organic revenue rose 2%, and growth accelerated across the second quarter to 3%, or 4% excluding the impact of the Middle East conflict, LVMH said.
Japan was one of the few markets the group named directly, alongside the US, where the release said growth accelerated for a good first half, and Asia excluding Japan, which it said delivered strong growth confirming an improvement in trends building since the second half of 2025.
"Japan posted growth for the half-year period and Europe showed good resilience," LVMH said in its H1 2026 results release.
The half was uneven by business group, and profit from recurring operations across the group fell 4% to €8.69bn. Fashion & Leather Goods, LVMH's largest and most profitable division and home to Louis Vuitton and Dior, posted organic revenue down 1% for the half, though it turned positive at 1% in the second quarter alone; divisional profit fell 7% to €6.2bn. Watches & Jewelry was the standout, up 9% organically for the half and 11% in the second quarter, with profit up 9% to €831m. Wines & Spirits and Selective Retailing both grew 5% organically across the half; Perfumes & Cosmetics was flat for the half and slipped 1% in the second quarter.
LVMH's own account of the half names two Japan store openings among its highlights for Fashion & Leather Goods: the Bamboo Pavilion in Tokyo and a new House of Dior store in Osaka. Neither is a small commitment — flagship-scale construction in Japan's two largest luxury markets takes years to plan — and both landed in a half when the division that owns them was still working its way back to organic growth.
Organic change year on year (%)
Put together, the picture is of a group whose reported number was pulled down more by currency and portfolio effects than by underlying demand, with Japan among the markets doing the real work — and still drawing flagship investment even while its largest division was finding its footing elsewhere. Whether Fashion & Leather Goods' second-quarter return to growth holds through the back half will show whether LVMH's global recovery has properly begun, or whether markets like Japan are still doing more than their share of the lifting.