LVMH CEO Arnault warns of ‘world catastrophe’ if Middle East conflict is not resolved
LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault warned on Thursday that there would be a “world catastrophe” if the conflict in the Middle East is not resolved.
His comments came after the Iran war halved the luxury giant’s sales growth by suppressing demand in the first three months of the year.
“The world is in a pretty serious crisis right now in the Middle East,” the longtime CEO told shareholders at the company’s Annual General Meeting in Paris.
“It will either be a world catastrophe with a very serious and very negative economic impact – in which case who knows how 2026 will unfold – or it will be resolved faster in some shape or form that we all hope for, even if it does not seem easy, in which case things will recover and continue as normal,” he said, according to a translation by LVMH.
Organic sales for the world’s largest luxury company rose 1% in the first quarter. LVMH said last week that the conflict in the Middle East had a 1% negative impact on organic growth, effectively halving quarterly growth.
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