• Womens Wear Daily, Tuesday, October 16, 2007 11:15 AM

LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton--the world's biggest luxury group--beat forecasts and posted double-digit organic gains across all business groups in the three months ended Sept. 30. "This clearly illustrates our view that consumer demand for luxury goods on average has been unaffected by the recent credit and real-estate turmoil," says Goldman Sachs analyst Jacques-Franck Dossin.

Stripping out the impact of currency, which shaved five points off totals, the increase in the quarter stood at 15%, fueled by strong gains in Asia, the U.S. and improvements in Japan.

Despite the strong showing--especially for high-margin businesses like leather goods and liquors--LVMH did not ramp up its earnings guidance, reiterating its objective of a "significant increase" in results for the full year. "We are simply realistic," says Jean-Jacques Guiony, LVMH's finance director.

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