(Adds details on Asia sales, CFO quote and profits from paragraph 5) By Mimosa Spencer PARIS, July 23 (Reuters) - LVMH sales slowed in the second quarter as shoppers stung by a rise in prices held back on splashing out on high end fashion, likely offering little reassurance to investors worried about slowing growth in the luxury goods sector. Sales at the world's biggest luxury group and owner of labels Louis Vuitton, Tiffany & Co. and Hennessy, grew to 20.
98 billion euros ($22.8 billion), a 1% rise on an organic basis, which strips out currency effects and acquisitions. The figure undershot analyst expectations for revenues of 21.
6 billion euros, according to an LSEG poll based on six analysts. The report from sector bellwether LVMH, which is Europe's second-largest listed company, worth around 340 billion euros, comes amid concerns about weak sales of designer fashions in the sector's key market, China. Profit warnings from smaller labels Burberry and Hugo Boss last week reinforced worries that middle-class shoppers in the world's No.
2 economy are pulling back on purchases as a property slump and job insecurity weigh on appetite to splurge. LVMH said its sales in Asia, excluding the Japanese market, fell by 14% in the second quarter, worsening from a 6% drop in the first quarter. Sales in Japan, however, where shoppers are taking advantage of the weak yen, continued to grow.
LVMH CFO Jean-Jacques Guiony said that it was difficult to provide an outlook on the Chinese market.