NEGOCIOS
Swatch registra su primera pérdida en casi 40 años
January 28, 2021 - Swatch Group reportó su primera pérdida anual en casi 40 años debida al impacto de la pandemia en la demanda de artículos de lujo. Las exportaciones de relojes suizos cayeron un tercio en 2020 a 16.100 millones de francos suizos (€15.000m).
The company posted a net loss of 53 million francs (€49.2 million) for 2020, its first loss since 1983 -- the year Biel-based Swatch Group AG was founded and launched the Swatch plastic watch.
The value of Switzerland’s exports of watches dropped 21.4% in 2020 -- a decline on par with the 2009 financial crisis -- the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry said Thursday (January 28).
However, as the country’s third-largest exporter and a pillar of the Swiss economy, the Swiss watch industry will adapt and recover, concludes a recent Morgan Stanley study of the industry.
Morgan Stanley reports that mega-brands and niche brands should fare better than those in the lower price segments. Timepieces with a wholesale value above CHF 3,000 should account for an all-time high of 71 per cent of Swiss watch exports in value versus just 10 per cent in volume. Unsurprisingly, all eyes are on China, the only market to have grown since January.
Sales in China -- the world’s largest market -- grew by 20 per cent in 2020 to CHF2.4 billion. According to the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry, sales in the other top four markets, U.S., Hong Kong, Japan and the United Kingdom, fell by 17.5, 36.9, 26.1 and 24.6 per cent respectively.