Chanel upbeat on 2022 growth despite China, recession risk

Chanel is confident it will deliver another year of solid growth despite a decline in sales in China because of a new round of lockdowns since March, its finance chief told Reuters on Tuesday.

Philippe Blondiaux said in an interview that around a third of Chanel’s beauty and perfume stores in China were currently closed as well as 5 of its 16 fashion and jewellery shops in the country, due to the anti-COVID restrictions.

But he added that in the month of April, despite a double-digit decline in Chinese revenues, the company had reported a double-digit increase in sales worldwide, with other Asian countries and the U.S. market performing strongly.

Blondiaux was speaking after Chanel reported revenues of $15.6 billion for 2021, up 49.6% compared to the previous year.