Hermès to increase prices in US to offset 10 percent tariff

Paris - French luxury group Hermès is set to increase its prices in May in the US to offset the 10 percent tariff. The company also reported an 8.5 percent increase in turnover in the first quarter of 2025.

Hermès, which on Tuesday ousted its rival LVMH as the leading French stock market capitalisation, will “fully offset” the impact of the 10 percent US tariffs by increasing its retail prices in the US “from May 1, across all business lines,” said the group’s chief financial officer (CFO), Eric Halgouët, who did not specify the full amount of the price increase.

“It will be a supplementary price increase that we are currently finalising, but it will enable us to neutralise this impact,” he said during an exchange with journalists.

The saddle and leather goods maker had already raised its prices worldwide by “6 to 7 percent” at the start of the year, and usually only increases them once a year.

In the first quarter, the group's sales were boosted by the “Americas” region (up 13.3 percent to 695 million euros or 791 million dollars). “That’s double-digit growth, both in the US, Canada, Mexico and even Brazil,” explained Halgouët.

In the US, the start of the year “was disrupted by climatic events” such as the fires in Los Angeles, which led to the closure of two Hermès stores for several days, “and snow events in certain other states that were rather unusual, such as Florida,” he said. “We started the year with very low stock levels in the US” before “ending the quarter with a very good month of March in all cities,” he added.

In Asia-Pacific (excluding Japan), Hermès achieved a turnover increase of 2.7 percent to 1.97 billion euros. Its sales in Japan jumped by 17.9 percent to 421 million euros thanks to local customers.

Turnover in Europe (excluding France) rose by 12.7 percent to 501 million euros, and sales in France jumped by 14.2 percent to 357 million euros.