Richemont Slumps as Watch Inventory Buybacks Dent Earnings

Richemont shares fell the most in three years as the Swiss luxury-goods maker bought back more unsold watches from retailers, weighing on profit growth. Richemont spent 203 million euros ($240 million) on inventory repurchases aimed at preventing watches from falling into the hands of unauthorized sellers, the Geneva-based company said Friday. “Another really messy set of results following a larger-than-expected round of watch inventory buybacks,” Zuzanna Pusz, an analyst at Berenberg, wrote in a note.