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Business News: Swatch Group Posts Full-Year Loss
From a robust profit of CHF748m the year prior, Swatch Group ended 2020 with a net loss of CHF53m – the first in decades for the Swiss watch conglomerate that owns brands like Omega, Longines, and Tissot. This reversal of fortune was attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced many of its retail stores to close while putting a halt to international travel. On an operating level, Swatch Group eked out a tiny CHF52m profit – compared to CHF1.02 billion the year before. The year’s results were mitigated by an improvement in the second half of 2020, with sales in the second half of the year rose 54.7% compared to the previous six months, as economic activity resumed in Asia with pandemic restrictions lifted, particularly in China, which experience double-digit growth for the full year. And the Swatch Group also had to face a virus of the digital kind in the second half of the year. Reported in information-technology news but not in the mainstream press, the group suffered a cyber attack in September, leading to a mention of “a 10-day production interruption” at Omega in the results announcement. Hit harder than most With jewellery selling better than luxury watches, fellow Swiss rival Richemont was buoyed by its pair of jewellery brands that helped plug the hole caused by its faltering watch division. Although Swatch Group owns American jeweller Harry Winston, the bulk of its revenue is generated by watches and watch components. Net sales fell to CHF5.59 bil...
