Covid-19 lockdowns in China took the shine off quarterly earnings from Burberry Group PLC and Compagnie Financière Richemont with both luxury giants reporting steep sales declines in the critical market for high-end products.
Chinese authorities earlier this year imposed strict lockdowns in Shanghai and other cities that confined residents to their homes and forced many businesses to close stores, as part of Beijing’s zero-tolerance approach to Covid-19. The measures contributed to China’s weakest economic growth rate in more than two years, and proved to be particularly costly for luxury companies, for which China is often their largest market.
