Luxury French fashion brand Hermès buoyed by wealthy Americans

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A growing taste for £6000 Birkin handbags and silk scarves among wealthy Americans helped French luxury brand Hermès report a 9 per cent jump in fourth-quarter sales, despite growth fears this year.

Revenues in the Americas soared 15 per cent pushing sales for the Paris-based business to £900million.

But it warned a slow-down in China, thanks to a crackdown on ostentatious spending, would mean growth edging lower to 8 per cent in 2015 was likely, compared with the previous 10 per cent level.

In the bag: Wealthy Americans helped French luxury brand Hermès report a 9 per cent jump in fourth-quarter sales

Sales in China grew 13 per cent, held back by democracy protests in Hong Kong, and European sales rose 7 per cent, Hermès said.

Unfavourable currency swings are likely to have an impact on its annual profits margin, which could come in below its record 32.4 per cent that it achieved in 2013.

Exane BNP Paribas luxury expert, Luca Solca, said Hermès’ 2015 guidance was ‘sobering’.