Whether it was his confidence in the company or to stop the slump billionaire Bernard Arnault has bought €215 million ($230 million) of LVMH shares after disappointing earnings of the luxury conglomerate in late July plunged its stock price.
French regulatory filings revealed that Arnault’s Financiere Agache and Christian Dior SE vehicles began buying LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE three days after the July 25 earnings declined by 14 percent. The slump was attributed to slowing economies in China and the US, persistent inflation, and rising interest rates.
Bernard Arnault and his family own about 48 percent of LVMH’s shares with almost 64 percent of the voting rights. Arnault, currently is world’s second-wealthiest individual, regularly buys LVMH stock, with breaks for the blackout periods around earnings reports, the filings show. Sources close to Arnault declined to comment.
LVMH’s second-quarter results showed the luxury owner of brands such as Louis Vuitton and Tiffany & Co., has been struggling in the US, with organic revenue falling 1 percent there. That performance spooked investors, with shares dropping 5.2 percent the next trading session, a move that dragged the whole sector down as well as the CAC 40 Index.
The 7.8 percent drop in LVMH shares last month was the biggest monthly decline since December. The slump last week dethroned LVMH as the biggest European company by market value, with Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk A/S overtaking the luxury giant thanks to booming sales of its Ozempic obesity treatment.
That reduced Arnault’s wealth from a record $212.4 billion in mid-July. As of last week, it stood at $170.4 billion, behind Elon Musk’s $230.7 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
LVMH owner Bernard Arnault buys company shares worth 230 million dollars after its shares decline
