LVMH shares hit record high after Q1 sales beat, other luxury stocks rise

PARIS (Reuters) - Shares in LVMH, the world's biggest luxury goods group, hit a record high on Tuesday after the French company reported a surge in first-quarter sales that beat analysts' forecasts.

LVMH shares rose as much as 2.9 percent to an intraday record high of 213.50 euros ($225.9). The stock was up by 2.3 percent at 212.15 euros by 0705 GMT, the top performer on France's benchmark CAC-40 index, which was down 0.4 percent.

Other luxury goods stocks also rose, with Kering up 1.1 percent. Hermes rose 0.9 percent to a record high as well, while Richemont gained 0.8 percent.

LVMH reported a 15 percent year-on-year increase in first quarter sales after the stock market had closed on Monday, beating the consensus market forecast.

LVMH warned that its business environment remained uncertain, given general political and macroeconomic concerns, but analysts focused more on the strong sales.

"What was truly impressive though is that all divisions were up double-digit, which was last seen in Q1, 2011," Deutsche Bank analysts said in a note, keeping a "buy" rating on LVMH shares.

LVMH shares are up around 17 percent so far in 2017.

($1 = 0.9453 euros)

(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta, editing by Louise Heavens)