Richemont reported better-than-expected sales, up 10% compared with the prior-year period, in the midst of a downward trend in demand for luxury goods that is weighing on most high-end brands.

Richemont, the owner of Cartier jewellery, beat market expectations for third-quarter sales on Thursday, fuelling hopes that the luxury sector could be coming out of its recent downturn. The Swiss company's sales jumped 10% year-on-year to 6.

Cartier-owner Richemont, whose brands also include Montblanc, raked in £5.2bn in the three months to December 31, its highest quarterly sales.

European luxury stocks surged after Richemont, the company behind Cartier, Piaget and Van Cleef & Arpels, reported a "very solid end" to 2024, with quarterly sales surging to a record. Shares in Dior,

Richemont, the owner of Cartier jewellery, on Thursday fuelled hopes of a revival for the beaten down luxury goods industry, with end-of-year sales that exceeded expectations, sending shares higher across the sector.